This story is from January 25, 2020

A script needs to resonate with my musical sensibilities: Amit Trivedi

Right from his early albums like Aamir and Dev D, film composer and singer Amit Trivedi has always been drawn to off-kilter scripts.
A script needs to resonate with my musical sensibilities: Amit Trivedi
Right from his early albums like Aamir and Dev D, film composer and singer Amit Trivedi has always been drawn to off-kilter scripts. A decade into the industry, this is something that the National Award-winning composer still looks for in films. Most of his works that have worked have always resonated with his sensibilities, said the composer in an interview, ahead of Indradhanush, his three-hour experiential concert today in Chennai.
Excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about Indradhanush...
It means an emotional ride. We will depict seven different emotions — love, sadness, anger, hope, courage, fear and friendship — through the songs. We have worked with a huge team and it is my dream come true. A very long time ago, I had created this song called Nikhra Hai Rang Indradhanush. This was almost around 25 years ago. I could not find an outlet for it back then. I wanted to use that line somewhere and wanted to use it in my show. The idea for the concert came from that song.
These past two years have been splendid for you. Numerous films apart, you were also behind arguably some of the best albums of Bollywood, like Andhadhun and Manmarziyaan. How does 2020 look?
2020 looks great and I am looking forward to it. I share different relationships with all directors. I share a beautiful working relationship with Anurag Kashyap. Sriram Raghavan is such an inspiration and I have always wanted to work with them. I gel really well with filmmakers like these. There was Kedarnath also, which worked out really well. Numbers wise, it fared far far better then Manmarziyaan or Andhadhun. It has been a great year. These directors add a lot to the
music because their passion often rubs off on me.
You are known for a very intimate and intricate style of music, that is very narrative. How important is it for a composer to know the entire script?
There is a medium that I am composing for and cinema is that medium. I need to know the film inside out to compose music. Otherwise, it is difficult. I need to relate with the directors and the milieu of the setting. Once you connect to a film, things flow naturally. And there are times where you don’t connect with a film. In these situations, you just have to see through it. We are professionals and just have to give our best at the given circumstances.
Most of your films have explored unconventional subjects, like you have mentioned in interviews. Does that excite you to make music?
A script needs to resonate with my musical sensibilities. And most of my films that have worked have resonated with my sensibilities. When that happens, the work automatically ends up being beautiful and I do end up giving my best.
You have often called Dev D your turning point. Do you think the music was way ahead of its time?
I don’t know if it was way ahead of time (laughs). I had no idea it would turn out to be such a big rage. I was just composing music as I would normally do for any film. Anurag sir loves songs. When he heard the music, he became so excited. He actually rewrote the entire script around the music. Even in 2020, we have a film releasing, and the process is the same. He tells me to make the music first, which inspires him and then he starts writing the script around it. It is so beautiful that when you watch the film, the marriage between the visuals, the music and the storytelling is seamless. It is what I call the Kashyap magic.
How important is a lyricist’s contribution for music?
It is the most important thing. Lyrics is the face of any song. The combination of composition, lyrics and singing is what makes a song a song. I love good poetry and thoughts put into simple words. Anand Bakshi used to do exactly that in the olden days. Now, we have Amitabh Bhattacharya, Javed (Akhtar) saab, Gulzar saab, and so many who do that in Hindi cinema. I have always had a beautiful working relationship with all my lyricists. Javed saab wrote Iktara and Sham from Aisha, 10 years back. The songs still resonate with people and covers of them are still being made. I hear a Sham cover almost every day. It is not just the music that has stood the test of time, but it is also the writing, which has a timelessness to it. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s work for Dev D is still talked about.
Which has been your most challenging song or album?
The only challenge that I face is when the director does not understand or want the music that we compose. It becomes a challenge to crack what exactly the director wants at times. Any or every album is difficult to crack at the starting stage because it involves creating a new idea out of a blank space. Once you crack that, it becomes easy.
You have composed for the south Indian remakes of Queen. Will we see you compose music for more Tamil films?
I would love to do more Tamil films. I had a great time composing music for the Queen remakes. The directors were really cool. But I think the project has run into some trouble right now, and it is on an absolute hold. But the soundtrack has turned out very beautifully. I want it to come out soon. The experience was a great one.
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