From Bandish Bandits to Guns & Gulaabs, how music on OTT has evolved Part 1

Compared to movies, wherein music is almost a century old, or television, which began over five decades ago, the OTT platform, especially for its own distinctive style of storytelling in web series, is a newer source of entertainment. But within this short phase of about five years, it has had had some remarkable music.

 

From Bandish Bandits to Guns & Gulaabs, how music on OTT has evolved Part 1

 

The first to set the ball rolling, or to be more specific, sound the first solid ‘note’, was Amazon’s Bandish Bandits, about a dysfunctional family that is into classical as well as Western music. Sony LIV’s Jehenabad, astonishingly a love story with a Naxalite backdrop, also looked at six diverse songs.

 

This year, Amazon hit it big with 12 retro songs in the 1940s to 1950s-based film industry-centric saga, Jubilee, while Netflix has offered us films like Qala and Monica O My Darling as well as series like Class, Mismatched and Guns & Gulaabs. However, there were other shows as well also across these and other platforms that had solidly innovative songs and title-tracks, vocal or instrumental (Scam 1992, Rocket Boys, Aarya, the Taj franchise, Cinema Marte Dam Tak, Apharan and so on) and even the occasional film.

 

The Scope

 

Anand Tiwari, director of Bandish Bandits, opined, “Our country is full of music! But in the general entertainment space, there is virtually nothing on the life of musicians. We make love stories, family and crime dramas with lots of songs, because our age-old format of storytelling is musical! What fascinated me about the story of Bandish Bandits was the conflict between art being about both discipline and liberation, as someone has said. Yes, my series was the first musical, and I am surprised there are not more such stories coming! My recent production, Kaalkoot, also used music because its male lead is the son of a poet!”

 

Rajeev Barnwal, director of Jehenabad, feels that music always helps in the Indian context. “I was an investigative journalist and have observed Naxalites closely and have interacted with them. Contrary to what we think, they lead normal lives with their own concept of entertainment, which includes eating together, watching Amitabh Bachchan movies and listening to songs on audio and video recorders. They even make their own songs for their cause,” he said.

 

He added, “And as a filmmaker, I find music to be the best part of work. Because, when I get a good song out of my composer and lyricist, it gives me great energy for making a scene better. The songs are like confidence-boosting vitamins for me!”

 

“Even now, web series is a pretty new format in India, but I see a growing scope for songs on it,” feels Ramprasad Sundar, Lead—Music Creative and Production, Netflix India. “We are a team that collaborates with the vision of the makers of our shows and films, and we decide on what and how much music is needed.”

 

Samar Khan, COO—OTT Business, Juggernaut Productions, however, feels that OTT is not really a musical medium. “Songs are not the mainstay of most series, as most stories on OTT are around darkish spaces like thrillers.” But he was quick to add, “As stories evolve, the music might do so.”

 

The Music

 

Ehsaan Noorani, of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who created the extraordinary score of Bandish Bandits says that his partners and he had a great time brainstorming on the demanding music of Bandish Bandits. “It was very fulfilling working on the score, as Anand knew exactly what he wanted. The story itself was so beautiful,” he said. Songs like the classical ‘Virah’ and ‘Lab par aaye’, the Western ‘Mastiyaapa’ or their fusion-like amalgam, ‘Sajan bin’ have become a rage and the audio Jukebox today boasts of 6.4 M views.

 

Amit Trivedi, the man behind Jubilee and Qala, feels that musical excellence always depends on the director’s vision and commitment. On the crucial point of deciding the lyrics writer and singers, he says that it is a collaborative effort between the director and him. “Thankfully, people like Vikramaditya Motwane and Anvita Dutt (my respective directors here) gave me full freedom to do my best,” he said.

 

 

About scoring situational rather than generic songs as films tend to have nowadays, he said, “Honestly, what works with the people is always a gamble. If you are hiring and paying me, I have to follow your vision, but within that I must have my space too to create my own original world,” he maintains.

 

Raghav-Arjun, who have scored music for Kaalkoot and one song in Jehenabad, and are doing other work on the web, hail from the ad film background. They are upbeat because the web offers them a lot of freedom to “define our work”. Said Raghav, “Directors here are looking for a song driving a story rather than a chartbuster! So, they are looking at new names like us who can add value and come up with something experimental, fresh and different.”

 

About any interference from the platforms, Raghav candidly said, “There are as many opinions as there are people, but we believe in new-age music with the timelessness of melody at the core. There is lots of hard work involved and collaboration is the ground rule.”

 

Sujeet Shetty, who scored the songs of Jehenabad, thanks Rajeev Barnwal and SonyLIV for giving him a free hand. “That is what has paid off!” he said and laughed as he added, “I do not know if that is a good thing or not, but my song ‘Kaala suraj kaale badal’ has now become some kind of an anthem for Naxalites and is a rage in Chhattisgarh! I am also doing more series now.” Sujeet created varied songs like the romantic track ‘O piya’, ‘Kahin kuch toota’ and others for the show.

 

About interference versus involvement from market forces, he just quipped, “I don’t think it is interference per se. I guess people in top positions must exercise their right to say something! But I am flexible and open to every good suggestion, because finally I am going to get the credit!”

 

Aman Pant, another prolific new talent, who has done Guns & Gulaabs, the R. Balki segment of Lust Stories 2 and the web-released film Sergeant, is also scoring films like Dunki. He too comes from an ad film background. A firm believer in a music palette that takes a story forward, he wants to make themes and songs to count for the show, not just to have a hit. And that, he assures you, takes a lot of time and effort!

 

“I believe in one composer, for that is how one thought and a uniform tone can come to a series or film!” he declared. “My song and score should be tailored to the needs of a situation, unlike many films songs today that can fit any other movie! I personally think that OTT does give that freedom to the artiste in me! Like I used the Prague Orchestra and Kumar Sanu’s voice—I am a 1990s kid!—in Guns & Gulaabs. The target should be just good music.”

 

Also Read: Guns and Gulaabs trailer: Rajkummar Rao as Tipu is all set to entertain, watch

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