Ankur Tewari: Didn’t want it to be like other films on infidelity

Shakun Batra

Raise your hands if you, like us, had a second look at the trailer of Shakun Batra's Gehraiyaan only to listen to its balletic music, again. Sound designer Ankur Tewari - responsible for monitoring the score and soundtrack artistes for the making of a cohesive theme - discusses breathing life into the Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, and Siddhant Chaturvedi starrer.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

What was your initial discussion with Shakun about the film's music?
We were sure that the music should not be mainstream. A lot of films on infidelity have been made, and they have had a certain kind of sound attached to them. We wanted to approach this with a new sound. Having said that, we first paid heed to what the script was saying. The film is about a group of young people who are going through a transactional relationship, when it come to love. We thought about the kind of music that these guys would listen to. All the songs in the film are in terms of a score. None has been [lip-synced] to. We thought about the music that would be in their playlist, and then dug deeper into each character.

Did you ask the actors what they listened to?
No. But I got sneaky. I started noticing their Instagram pages - songs they were posting about, or sharing on stories. Since I have worked with Siddhant in Gully Boy, I know the kind of music he listens to. I was also thinking about the characters. This film is very strong, even on paper. So when you have access to a script where the character is so well defined, it's easy to work accordingly. Kabir and Savera are two musicians who have worked on the score to give it a distinct sound. Their music is precisely the kind that these characters would consume.

When you have such a fine understanding of creating music best suited for a script, how do you navigate filmmakers' demands to create a commercial score even if the story doesn't require it?
Unlike in the indie space, where you write as you desire, in films, every one is catering to the script. You are committed to that. Different scripts have different needs, and some of them need a commercial treatment. If that is not done, then what is the difference between your approach towards an independent song and film music. Each sound-scape has a different colour, and that can be niche, mainstream or an entirely new genre. In this film, for instance, a lot of the [music] is inspired by French [music]. The song needs to pull you further into the film; not pull you out of it with a sound that doesn't fit.

How often do you end up changing your work after seeing the first cut?
When I saw the rough cut, I noticed that there were places where we were going off, especially, as far as Deepika's performance is concerned. She is such a powerful performer. Also, actors put a lot of work into understanding the characters. So when you learn of a character on paper, and then see how the actor has pulled it off, you start understanding their perspective. I had to move away from the music and lyrics that I [had etched in my mind]. The brief that I gave Kausar [Munir, lyricist], before I saw the rough draft was different from the one I gave her after it. Our initial approach was a bit younger, but the characters were more complex. We had to tweak it to suit that.