Bringing the '60s back! Salim-Sulaiman on making 102 Not Out's music

Salim-Sulaiman

While moviegoers are appreciating the camaraderie between Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor in 102 Not Out, music aficionados are celebrating the movie's soundtrack. Composed by Salim-Sulaiman, the film, which was earlier supposed to be song-less, features three tracks that have an old-world charm.

Talking about their vision for the music, Salim Merchant says, "While composing the tracks, we reflected upon a dialogue that Mr Bachchan says in the movie, 'Mujhe duniya ki har nayi cheez pasand aati hai, par music puraana pasand hai.' That triggered the idea that we make vintage music for the film - music that's reminiscent of the '60s and '70s." The duo enjoyed liberty while composing the songs because their vision coincided with that of the makers. "Umesh [Shukla, director] and Saumya [Joshi, screenplay writer] needed songs that touched the heart and were close to the character sketches . We were happy to hear that brief because that was our vision too. We didn't face any challenges while working on the film.

Bachchan and Kapoor in a still from 102 Not Out

The makers loved what we made them listen to. There was mutual respect and trust," says Sulaiman Merchant. Considering music plays a pivotal role in determining a film's success, one would anticipate that working on 102 Not Out, which marks the on-screen union of Bachchan and Kapoor after 27 years, would have been taxing for the composer duo. But they refute the notion, stating, "We consider composing music a serious, yet passionate art form. And pressure is challenging. The stress is more when the star cast is new or a film marks a director's debut, because the music plays an important role in the initial success of such films," says Salim.

While most music directors who compose the soundtrack of a film like to work on its background score too, 102 Not Out's backing music was helmed by George Joseph. "But we were a big part of the score. Initially, the movie was to release on a previous date. But since it got delayed, and we were committed to perform at concerts overseas around the time allotted for the creation of the background music, we thought of getting someone else, someone who is good, who would work with us, and still get the screen credit," says Sulaiman.

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