From dead silence, an eerie sound emerges, transcending into beats and lullaby vocals, reminding you partly of the opening track of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. It then delves into hope, something that gives you a feeling that you have to survive somehow. This is the theme song of the recently released Netflix web series Kaala Paani, with the score composed by young artiste Rachita Arora, who is slowly making a mark in the world of music, one step at a time.
The composer who first created the song Chal Tu Apna Kam Kar for the 2017 film Newton, has developed a very distinctive sound; think of Bahut Dukha Mann from Mukkabaaz or the chilling soundtrack for Anurag Kashyap’s Sacred Games, it was all her magic.
Kaala Paani, which was released on October 18, has the same touch in the music department. Talking about the venture, the musician says, “Kaala Paani has been a long journey (15 months) and a very interesting one at that. Creating music that accompanies and enhances the story and evokes emotions was my target. The whole drama has a lot of unique narrative threads, each demanding a separate musical identity and emotional resonance.”
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Immersed in the heart-pounding suspense of the survival race and captivated by the trials and tribulations of the characters, Rachita observed how each scene had been meticulously crafted to capture the spirit of its narrative, making her experience more intriguing and challenging. “I had a great time doing the series. When I first read the script, I thought that I should explore a capella of my own. I started with a rhythm and then went on to create the soundtrack,” she adds.
Talking more about the creative process, the die-hard fan of Hindustani classical musician Ustad Amir Khan says, “I don’t check other Original Sound Track (OST) as I want to do what comes to my mind while reading the script. Kaala Paani was completely different from what I have done before. I explored some African rhythm structures for the show. I started making some music for it with Kalimba. I played and recorded it, while trying to experiment. There are a lot of vocal structures here. It was a lot of fun doing that.”
Music has been a passion for Rachita right from the start, in her words, she creates music just because she ‘loves doing it’. She remembers an old Casio (keyboard) her aunt gifted her and the satisfaction she felt when she played it. “Music is something that you feel. I started doing it because I felt like singing, I love it. Later, I also started composing. Everything happened just because I was very passionate about it. I am blessed that I am doing what I am doing. My aunt got a little Casio from Dubai, I didn’t know how to play it, but I played my first composition on that and my father was surprised. It was the moment I felt, ‘Wow! This is so amazing!’”
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The artiste has also composed music for theatre; the process, she says, is very dynamic and organic compared to scoring for TV shows and films. “Creating music for theatre is very organic. You sit with the director and you do what you feel like. With web series, it is a lengthy process. You get into the structure; you sit with the characters. But the beauty is that you can explore more of a character. With films, it's all fast-moving. In Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, I used a lot of Hindustani classical with modern elements. It had to be quirky and it had to be fast.”
The ‘detached’ musician who is also a trained Hindustani artiste and skilful pianist wants to learn sitar shortly to expand her musical horizons. Talking about her aspirations and future projects, she adds, “I want to get into more mainstream work. The kind of work I have been doing is more artistic. I am very spontaneous; I just go with whatever comes my way. In the coming future, there will be a lot of theatre work, a few web series and some movies, I am composing for.”