For many, the weekend binge-watch playlist included the true-crime documentary Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case (C&C). The documentary revolves around the infamous Koodathayi Cyanide killing case, which had the entire nation in shock. Giving further depth to the narrative of the bone-chilling murder mystery is the background score.
With a haunting arrangement of three notes in the opening and end credits, the music of C&C lingers in your head reminding you of the dark and realistic tale that the film depicts. The score is also layered throughout the documentary as it bends and stretches taking different forms, amplifying the emotions further. Responsible for the elevated experience of witnessing the story is the film’s music composer Tushar Lall. While the composer’s work in Dancing on the Grave and Seargent is not new to audiences, this documentary, however, puts him in the limelight once again. In our chat, Tushar reveals more.
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A definitive picture
Having worked in a couple of documentary films, Tushar sheds light on a newfound realisation he had while working on C&C. “The entire score is still a story. Even if the visuals aren’t there, it (the score) should still paint a definitive picture of what this piece of art might be about.”
Highlighting the reason behind presenting the opening credits theme in three repetitive notes, he compares the music to the protagonist of the documentary, Jolly Joseph, who was accused of committing six murders. Tushar says that her ‘inner workings’ were ‘very crazy’. The music similarly, consciously presents repetitive notes while maintaining the main movement of the score.
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Relevance of a good score
Another highlight of the score, as pointed out before, is its ability to take various forms. The young composer sheds light on this observation. “The mark of a good score theme is that it should be malleable. The world that the documentary revolves around, needs a theme that should be able to take any form.” He further submits the themes of the film, Up, as a strong example following this notion. Calling this process the ‘toughest part’, he adds another example — the film also depicted the way the accused Jolly’s son reacted to the incident. Hence, the score unconsciously maintained ‘flexibility to turn to a simpler version of itself.’
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Scores in crescendo
Keeping in mind the rise and popularity of themes and background scores by themselves, we ask Tushar why such artworks have become prominent as individual tracks that people can enjoy without visuals. He replies, “Films are becoming more real and people are looking forward to what’s more real,” he says, continuing, “The closer you get to reality, the more important background music will become. Themes run under the narrative. They’re not breaking the same into a loud exposition.”
Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case is streaming on Netflix