With three of his songs having been among the 94 that made it to the 2024 Oscar eligibility list, composer Alphons Joseph on his work on The Face of the Faceless
Alphons Joseph
Tucked away in a remote Indore village, Alphons Joseph found himself sampling tunes from the skilled tribal singers for whom music was the crux of their existence. Having spent several days with them, he studied their sounds and harmonies as they continued to serenade him with songs and dances. “They are poor people, but for them, music is their life. When they get together, they sing and dance, and play the drums. I recorded some of their songs and music they played on the drums, and studied the rhythm. Armed with that, I created something new.” The three songs that resulted from Joseph’s efforts bagged him a place among the contenders for the Best Original Song title at the upcoming Academy Awards. After all, the Hindi-language movie, The Face of the Faceless, featuring Kerala State Film Award-winning actress Win C, had made it to the eligibility list for both Best Original Song and Best Original Score categories. However, it failed to advance in the race thereafter.
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One of the three tracks— Barala tribal song, Ek sapna mera suhana, and Jalta hai suraj—Joseph tells us, “was sung by a lady from that village”. “It was recorded in their language, and has a [great] rhythm. It is a pure folk number. I was told to not make the music too cinematic, because the makers wanted to maintain the serenity of the story. The only additions were the drums and folkloric stringed tones. Their melodic phrasing is one that flows up and down; I wanted to maintain structure,” he shares.
Based on the true story of Indian Catholic religious sister Sr. Rani Maria, the story depicts her trials and tribulations as she rose above the boundaries of her religion, realised the universal oneness, and committed her life to empowering the marginalised community. “When I heard the story, I understood that it needed an approach that was different from the ones I had taken for the commercial films that I had worked on. The main character belongs to Kerala, so we need to incorporate both musical [sensibilities]. Meeting the Oscar eligibility criteria was a big task because there were other famous productions that got rejected. The team looks for authenticity. [They will not] accept any melody that is adapted from other music. To have three of my songs among the 94 that have made it to the list [is exciting].”
The celebrated Oscar win of RRR’s Naatu naatu at the same gala in 2023 could certainly have influenced their decision to submit their music for the awards show, we speculate. Ask Joseph if he was influenced by the win, and he says. “Many people questioned if the song was worthy of the Oscar. But it has a vibe, a [unique] rhythmic expression, and energy that plays on people’s mind. That originality perhaps worked [well]. As far as our film is concerned, the music is based on the truthfulness of the movie. I didn’t want to overdo the music; I only just wanted to support the movie, and its emotions.”
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