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Indian Ocean goes to Bollywood
New Delhi, May 13: Anu Malik & Co`s latest competition is coming from Delhi. Indian Ocean, the music band based in the Capital, have entered the Hindi film scene.
New Delhi, May 13: Anu Malik & Co’s latest competition is coming from Delhi. Indian Ocean, the music band based in the Capital, have entered the Hindi film scene.
The foursome—Asheem Chakravarty, Amit Kilam, Rahul Ram and Susmit Sen—have composed and sung three songs and done the background score for Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday. The film is now making its maiden voyage to the international film festival circuit.
It all began a year back when Kashyap—whose controversial debut film Paanch is still awaiting release—and producer Arindam Mitra visited the band’s practice pad in Karol Bagh. Kashyap happens to be an Indian Ocean fan and owns all their albums: Indian Ocean, Desert Rain, Kandisa and Jhini. ‘‘Their music touches a chord with you. It becomes an obsession,’’ he says. His instructions to the band were clear: ‘‘nothing filmi for my film.’’
Black Friday is about Mumbai’s serial bomb blasts of 1993. ‘‘It’s a big-budget, non-star-cast film based on straight, objective reportage. So the music had to be carefully woven in so that it didn’t sensationalise the happenings,’’ says Kashyap.
Doing film music was nothing short of a challenge for Indian Ocean. For one, it took them time to realise that the film wasn’t about its background score; the score was about the film. Next, they needed to work in sync with the director’s vision. ‘‘To understand clearly how Anurag interprets his footage wasn’t easy,’’ recalls Kilam. However, he adds, the grim subject and the lack of a hero and heroine didn’t bother them at all.
For the first time the band have used the saxophone and clarinet (both played by musician Raghav Sachar) as well as the electric guitar in their music. They took three months to compose and record Black Friday’s songs, but Kashyap did not mind. ‘‘Just watching them argue about tunes and rhythms reassured me that I was working with true artists and that they were making an extra effort. Also, Paanch and its ever-changing release dates have made me patient,’’ laughs Kashyap.
Call it naivete, but Indian Ocean shocked quite a few industrywallahs by singing their tunes quite openly during their stay in Mumbai though Black Friday and its music have not yet been released (a release date has not even been set). Says Kashyap: ‘‘It doesn’t happen in Mumbai. In fact, playback singers and composers don’t even sing their tunes in bathrooms fearing they might get stolen. But these guys were hardly bothered. When someone warned them against it, they laughed it off. ‘No one can sing these notes,’ they said.’’
It all began a year back when Kashyap—whose controversial debut film Paanch is still awaiting release—and producer Arindam Mitra visited the band’s practice pad in Karol Bagh. Kashyap happens to be an Indian Ocean fan and owns all their albums: Indian Ocean, Desert Rain, Kandisa and Jhini. ‘‘Their music touches a chord with you. It becomes an obsession,’’ he says. His instructions to the band were clear: ‘‘nothing filmi for my film.’’
Black Friday is about Mumbai’s serial bomb blasts of 1993. ‘‘It’s a big-budget, non-star-cast film based on straight, objective reportage. So the music had to be carefully woven in so that it didn’t sensationalise the happenings,’’ says Kashyap.
Doing film music was nothing short of a challenge for Indian Ocean. For one, it took them time to realise that the film wasn’t about its background score; the score was about the film. Next, they needed to work in sync with the director’s vision. ‘‘To understand clearly how Anurag interprets his footage wasn’t easy,’’ recalls Kilam. However, he adds, the grim subject and the lack of a hero and heroine didn’t bother them at all.
For the first time the band have used the saxophone and clarinet (both played by musician Raghav Sachar) as well as the electric guitar in their music. They took three months to compose and record Black Friday’s songs, but Kashyap did not mind. ‘‘Just watching them argue about tunes and rhythms reassured me that I was working with true artists and that they were making an extra effort. Also, Paanch and its ever-changing release dates have made me patient,’’ laughs Kashyap.
Call it naivete, but Indian Ocean shocked quite a few industrywallahs by singing their tunes quite openly during their stay in Mumbai though Black Friday and its music have not yet been released (a release date has not even been set). Says Kashyap: ‘‘It doesn’t happen in Mumbai. In fact, playback singers and composers don’t even sing their tunes in bathrooms fearing they might get stolen. But these guys were hardly bothered. When someone warned them against it, they laughed it off. ‘No one can sing these notes,’ they said.’’