How the music of Gehraiyaan bridged the gulf between Bollywood and indie music

The musicians behind the Deepika Padukone-starrer talk to us about the movie’s unique sound palette
A still from Gehraiyaan
A still from Gehraiyaan

The music of the Deepika Padukone-starrer Gehraiyaan is unforgettable and addictive. The tunes of Doobey and the title track Gehraiyaan will stay in our minds perhaps for longer than the movie itself. The folks behind the soundtrack and background score are Ankur Tewari, who is the music supervisor, and composers Kabeer Kathpalia (aka Oaff) and Savera Mehta. The artistes are part of a new generation of musicians that are redefining ‘Bollywood music’ as a genre.

Keeping score
Longing, temptation, yearning and passion are some of the moods that the score creates. Ankur tells us, “Overall, Kabeer and Savera have created a really good soundscape. They often joke about themselves being the masters of making sad music. They bring in a lot of emotion in the sound.” Ankur also wrote the title song which went viral for its meaningful lyrics. “You kind of draw inspiration from your personal life. The songs are about temptation and giving into temptation. We all have been tempted in our lives to do things that we know are probably not good for us,” adds the artiste.

From a technical point of view, the score of the film is a good balance between Western classical elements and new age sounds. About the process, Kabeer says, “The background score is pretty minimal. I think the terms that Shakun (Batra, the director) used a lot were ‘nuanced’ and ‘complex.’ So we tried to create that through the score. Shakun didn’t talk to us much in terms of the  technical aspects, as much as he did about the story and characters. After Savera and I got the idea of what the script was, we just jammed and played around.” As the movie has no lip-synced songs, the musicians had the advantage of seeing footage of the movie and then layering the music over it. The characters, moods and script dictated the music of Gehraiyaan

Ankur Tewari, who is the music supervisor for the movie
Ankur Tewari, who is the music supervisor for the movie

Stream ahead
As OTT platforms take over the industry, there has been a shift in commercial music. “New directors are younger and bolder. They have a clear vision that they are competing with stories from around the world. And audiences are exposed to cinema from all around the globe. So the sound is global too,” Ankur tells us. The line between ‘mainstream’ music and indie music is getting more blurry each day. He adds, “It’s natural to use sounds that are universal and that cut across to a world audience. It feels quite amazing that young and interesting musicians are now getting a chance to play on a level field with artistes who are experts in making music at a mainstream level.”

Oaff
Oaff

Kabeer agrees that an increasing number of indie musicians are foraying into the Bollywood music industry. “Filmmakers are interested in getting a different soundscape for the films. There are music supervisors, like Ankur, who are helping bridge that gap. A big production house like Dharma Productions, and a director like Shakun, took a chance with us. And the songs are doing really well. So I think this will open up more opportunities for all kinds of musicians,” the artiste sums up. 

 anagha@newindianexpress.com 
 @anaghzzz

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