Shashwat Sachdev: I wanted to create an epic soundtrack for 'Attack'

Shashwat Sachdev on juggling duties as score and soundtrack composer for hostage drama, Attack

German composer Johann Sebastian Bach’s age-old musical form, toccata, appears to have formed the crux of the John Abraham-starrer, Attack, composed and scored by Shashwat Sachdev. Toccata is a virtuoso piece designed to exhibit a performer’s touch and technique. “We created a metal version, another hip-hop creation, a western piano version, as well as an epic iteration of it,” says Sachdev, adding that while it took a fair share of convincing, he managed to win director Lakshya Raj Anand’s trust. “I was keen to [revisit] the toccata, because I wanted to create an epic soundtrack for this film. The music is larger-than-life, yet entertaining. Toccata is extremely expressive. It is a melody that begins at one point, but transforms into something else. The protagonist in the film also has a similar arc; one in which he transforms into a super-soldier.”

That Sachdev has attempted to do something out of the ordinary is evident from the trailer. A distinctive score enhances both the action sequences as well as the romantic scenes. “Lakshya told me to do as I pleased. That is also how a good collaboration should be — artistes should have the freedom to introduce their own colour into the movie. I wanted the music to be conversational,” he says of the film that, apart from Abraham, also stars Jacqueline Fernandez and Rakul Preet Singh.   

John Abraham headlines the film

Juggling duties as score and soundtrack composer enabled him to have a better understanding of the number of tracks that were essential. Asserting that he avoids playing the “number game”, he says not every romantic sequence warrants a song, and a skilled composer should be able to decipher whether or not one is needed. 

“The process that I follow makes it easier for me to make such decisions. Right from the [script] reading sessions, I begin to react to the narrative. When I think about what I want to hear when a particular scene is being played out, I am able to create a suitable composition. That’s a conversation I have with myself. I ask myself what it is that I want to hear when two characters are interacting in a particular scene. That is how I work.” The actioner, set against a hostage crisis, is set to release on April 1. 

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