The OST Scene in India
It has been a while since we have had OST’s being released for songless Indian films.
The examples have been Black Friday, Sarkar, White noise, Bhoot, Black and more. The masters of the game are Indian Ocean, Salim-Sulaiman, Ashutosh & Dhruv, Midival Punditz, Amar Mohile, Nitin Raikwar, Monty, Sandeep Chowta etc. since Indian films have THE SONG has an indispensable element, OST’s featuring extensive background music pieces from the films, or inspired songs, become a shaky boat to ride on.
Sarkar had a brilliantly worked on 2 CD OST track, which by far has been one of the most definitive sounds or efforts in this domain. Indian Ocean’s Black Friday did it 2 years ago with original sounds, which build up the singularly arresting sound of a blast-infested Mumbai. White Noise, Snip and Bombay Boys were the showcase of Ashutosh Phatak & Dhruv Ganekar’s electronica and semi-classical fusion with snippets of Bollywood ouevre in an occasional item number here and there. Zaakir Hussain created some newer fusion sounds for Everybody says I’m Fine & Mr. & Mrs. Iyer.
Even the almost never heard American Daylight has some nice tracks by Amaan & Ayaan Ali Bangash.Monsoon Wedding saw a compilation of bhangra sounds with fusion-classical pieces from Mychael Dynna.
The seeds of this trend was sown by the ever-innovative Rahman with his “Theme Music” pieces in almost all his albums, be it Bombay, Chor Chor(a brilliantly worked operatic score in the hindi version of Thiruda Thiruda), Taal, Thakshak, or Lagaan. Then came Sandeep Chowta with his revolutionary concepts in Satya, to be followed by a spate of striking works in Asoka, Vaastav, Company and Mast. Rahman rediscovered his chart topping ability with Rang De Basanti & Guru. But after listening to his relatively unheard yet out-there OST for Warriors of Heaven & Earth, one wishes he did more of that detailed work.
A replication of the west might be too much to ask for, after all these developments, music sales are hardly any impressive in the popular category, which hardly leaves any room in the saleable, commercial category of OST releases. Many a films have come and gone with amazing background pieces but zero or lesser shelf availability or promotion. And musicians who started the fire are busy doing either international projects, indi-pop, ads or flimsy mainstream work (e.g. Salim-Sulaiman doing a Krrissh). When one can’t procure a CD for Rahman’s brilliant Water or some other criminally underexposed works, how can we expect to hope for better times? The dip in film music sales is attributed to the growing i-pod-isation of Indian consumers, FM radio channels, lack of inspiring film scores, fewer good people in the mainstream business, fading lyricism in our films, and more.
So what is the solution? A total rejection of the song-and-dance or an inclusion of select music pieces with original tracks inspired from the film?
Our films are what they are for their songs. But do we have room for more? Delhi Heights with a Rabbi soundtrack sounds promising.
The inclusion of Rahman tracks in the Oscars is another “India is IN’ gimmick. I wonder how long we will put on our best kept suits for the Oscars that we will never get.
Coming back to the music, one wishes to see guys like Nitin Sawhney, Bally Sagoo, Trilok Gurtu, Taufiq Quereishi turn film-wards and turn the tide around. Its time we relooked at the hugely potential but largely ignored OST Scene in our films.
Tushar Shukla
Tags: Chinese, English - Other, Medium, Songwriting, Soundtrack, Teaching Film-making
Anurag Kashyap
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I feel OST in movies do the trick of takin a movin to that extra level.. am so into ost’s that even during one of my mood swings i always have a background score to it.. for e.g. the track “brooks was here” in shawshank redemption always gets a lump in my throat.. i mean the execution of that scene with music in the background was brilliant..
Awesome OST in Indian Cinema… till date… Hey Ram.
//Tushar, thanks for the wonderful write up.
I think Sandeep Chowta’s OST of Jungle was terrific. In fact his theme tracks are a major draw which ‘made’ me buy the cassettes. Its a different story now, though.
You’ve raised an important point though. But how successful are the OSTs going to be, with more and more FM stations coming up?
Music rights of a film used to make big news, once upon a time. Remember Subhash Ghai’s Yaadein? Now I guess, they’ll sell the rights to Apple or Limewire.
@aroon, i havent noticed the track in Shawshank Redemption, need to check it out now since you mentioned. in the west, i love the OST’s of Coen Brothers films, forrest gump, almost famous, notting hill,couching tiger,walk the line, scorsese(how can one miss SIR!), also check out The New World by terence mallick, it has an awesome score.
@wb, thanks for pointing out HEY RAM. agree with you on it,it has the richest and most diverse score-expanding music from maharashtra, tamil nadu, bengal, and the new elctronica sounds, a hallmark of Illayiraja Sir.
@Arcopol, Jungle was terrific indeed, the film was elevated in its suspense thanks to the haunting score. same applies to me, i love his themes, my fav is Asoka. really dont know where will this exponential FM race end.it is more clutter and less quality.nothing like the vintage tapes.on music rights, i still think its big but just that our industry’s shifting attention made it subside in other brighter news stories.
Was very much surprised to see actually having people who notice the OSTs in India. Usually the masses (including the classes) dont even care to pay attention to the score, which intensifies the movie watching experience. I agree with Tushar that too many good scores have been out of our reach simply for the reason that there is no audience for that. Personally I have always been a huge aficionado for soundtracks, on the Indian scene, I believe that after Pyaare bhai (of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame, listen to Agneepath and Khuda Gawah) A. R. Rehman is the only one who actually fills heart in the background score. I was blown away by his use of vocals in Roja, especially the Kashmiri and the Islamic touch to it..brilliant! Also his score to The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Rang De Basanti, Lagaan (notice the track when Aamir chases the deer) cannot be forgotten.
Its a sorry state over here that we dont get the soundtracks released for them. Yes the soundtrack of The New World is good, James Horner has composed some very beautiful compositions, listen to his compositions for “The Four Feathers” wonderful use of vocals by Rahat Nusrat Fateh Khan, which he again utilized in Mel Gibson’s “Apocalpto”.
Thanks, Altaf.
Will surely check out Apocalypso and Four Feathers.
There is some good news on the BGM side though, I liked the way its been used in Nishabd and Eklavya.
Yeah Tushar, I too liked the compositions for Eklavya, especially the opening sequence of the movie, where the ambience is created with atmospheric sound mixing then the music starts, it was good. Sounded a bit like the opening track of “Apocalypto”.
Finally it’s really good news for fans like us who like BGM that it is being a miniscule piece of attention now!
Hey Tushar, if you want I can send you the opening track of Apocalypto for your pleasure.
By the way, which soundtracks have you loved the most? Just asking by way of curiosity, I love to talk about film scores.
Altaf, i like all RGV OST’s cus he respects the craft and gives it enuff room and space,
if i were to point out, i wud pick company, sarkar, mast, bhoot.even nishabd, but i need to see it 1-2 times more.
i wud love to get the clips from apocalypso, thanks a lot.
my fav scores from west are almost famous, 12 monkeys, all coen brother films, brazil, tarantino and robert rodriguez films, 21 grams, babel.
and i would love to talk about OST’s any time any day, thanks again. :-)
Yes Tushar, I do agree with you on RGV giving a credible role for background music in his movies, I loved the soundtrack of Satya, Company and Sarkar, not seen Nishabd (of late, it seems to me that he is losing that grip he showed in Satya, Shiva and Company, maybe it’s just me who’s thinking like that).
And give me your email address so that I will mail to you the track of Apocalypto.
Well your list of favs is quite varied. I like huge orchestral music, especially the ones having chorals in a grand style.
Good to know that you would love to talk about BGs anytime, so let start with…The Abyss, what do you think of the score? Give your comments and I’ll give you mine.
loved your piece,
would add Winged Migration to the list.
and Apocalypse Now and Rabbit Proof Fence and Lilya-4-Ever [ Lukas Moodysson ]……..you got me thinking about music…….
I don’t care what people say about Naach, the music was EXCELLENT. Actually loved the whole film except the dances [ and she was supposed to be a choreographe!]
RainCoat, that had its Bhojpuri highs.
more later…..
K3
hey altaf, i ve sent you a mail.
i was listening to LAGAAN ’s OST today, and loved it a lot, feel it should be talked about more.
i ll have to review Abyss but have faint memories of it, it was the first VCD i bought!(its made by james cameron right? i guess james horner did it too).
thanks, kavita.
how could i miss Apocalypse Now! and all of Coppola films.
I loved Naach, and so do many other authors at PFC, it gets us really talking! (rakt ka hai ye gubbara)
I have the complete soundtrack with original soongs of Raincoat. it is earthy timeless and infectious.
akele hum nadiya kinare, piya tora…
How did i miss this?!
I’ve alway felt that BGM is critical for any movie, and yeah, Rahman revolutionized BGM’s aswell as film soundtracks.
MOnty Sharma is another one.. his music lifts scenes to greater heights, and cannot be ignored.
I remember watching the drib and drab ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ and every so often,
there would be this beautiful guiter piece.
Ditto for KM’s ‘Siiillsiilaaaayyy’!
There weres scenes in the Bhoomika Chawla story (im sure im the only person who has ever seen this film!!)
where the BGM would just take over to the point where you’d
want to close your eyes and happily be swept away!!
Ofcourse, his BGM in ‘Black’ and ‘Devdas’ was, IMO, a huge breakthrough, especially as SLB’s
‘H.D.D.C.Sanam’ had A-W-W-W-FUL BGM!(can’t believe it got an award for that!!).
RGV has always had interesting/brilliant BGM, and i have to mention ‘Daud’ on this site again, as the BGM was exceptionaly good!
Rahman always provides great BGM and very cleverly takes from the original soundtrack, which then leaves you at the height of antisipation waiting fo the songs!
Love his BGM in ‘Bombay’!
The alaaps.. the echoing qawaali’s.. wow!!
And does anyone know what the hell has happened to Sandeep Chowta??!!
Kavita, great to see another person who likes something about ‘Naach’.
But i am surprised the choreography didnt impress you?!
I loved it!! Very innovative!
But,seriously,in NAACH, the dances were like those in any other film , where was the innovation? At least by RGV standards……
if you see his Telugu film Kshana Kshanam,Sridevi dances in a forest for a kind of tribal song ……….now that was something.[ I watched it the Gult way, with red and pink bulbs flashing all around the screen, people dancing on the aisles, throwing money,loved it,some experience!! ]
Plus yaar, I am a dancer, I need to say I was NOT impressed
))))))))
K3
“Chanda Re” in Eklavya is by far the best ever Lullaby from Hindi cinema. Suno Kahani and Jaanu Na are also very good. Chanda Re is so melodious, it falls in the 1924 – A love story category.
Thomas Newman is the man, He is one of the Best in Hollywood, Marconi is good too.
Thomas Newman did Music for American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption, Road to Perdition(Which i feel is his best)and some of the best movies in past. I think ARR can learn from him.
Here is a IMDB on thomas Newman
http://imdb.com/name/nm0002353/
I was refering to the songless scenes.. which was more like yoga i guess!!
I couldn’t believe how flexible Antara was… and sadly she didnt even get an award for her perfectly pitched performance!!
She was marvelous in that film!! (well, IMO)
Steve, bhaiyaa! Aap yahaan bhi ?
I didn
@tushar Road to perdition was a wonderful film I watched it in the same week where i saw most of Paul Newman flicks. Sam Mendes did a great job. Jar head was not bad but road to perdition was simple awesome. I liked newman’s score in Cinderella Man.
Tushar, you can
steve, no man, I don
Tushar, liked your evaluation of Black, but I did like the score of Black, not sure who did it. Yes I too also believe that Lagaan deserves to be discussed more. Yes, The Abyss is made by James Cameron (my favorite director or scientist or adventurer, don
Hey Altaf
Thanks for the amazing inputs on the OST scene, Zemeckis is another great. I don
Hi Tushar, thanks so much for the link of Rahman’s music. No I havent seen any of Wes Anderson films, but now that you have mentioned him, would like to try it out.
Take your own time to respond to the clips, listen to it and then give me your views, in the meantime, I will keep sending the tracks to you.
Have you heard Gustav Holst track “Mars”, it’s beautiful with elaborate orchestrations, Vidhu Vinod Chopra utilized it in Parinda, 1942:A Love Story and also Sandeep Chowta mixed some elements of the track in the opening title track of “Company”.
Nice to know there are more film score freaks like me out here in India ;) My friends often call me strange because I have a habit of paying more attention to the score in the movie than the scenes, and sometimes say out “Wow, I want that cue!!”
My fav Hindi film scores till date: Lagaan (MARVELLOUS), Lakshya (though the theme’s a derivative of LoTR), Dhoom, Don, Jungle, Krrish (some lifts), Black, Rang de Basanti.
My fav Hollywood scores: Lion King, Dinosaur, Waterworld, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, LoTR (all parts, a real treasure!), King Kong, Jaws, Star Wars (all parts), Gladiator, Batman (Danny Elfman), Spiderman 1 and 2, Mulan, Aladdin (Alan Menken), Air Force One.
If anyone has information about how to get the score of Lakshya, please tell! And thanks a LOT for the A.R. Rahman Score links!
Good. IF ARR’s score is great, then Ilayaraja’s BGM is just better. It creates that sensation/feeling and sets out the mood better. I prefer IR more than ARR. His classics are Raja paarvai, Nayagan, Thalapathy, Anjali, Mouna ragaam, Punnagai mannan, Apu raja, etc..
He may not appeal to the current MTV generation. But his rural/folklore ‘feel’ takes me back to my roots and appreciate the scenes more.
The best BGM ever has to be, ‘Once upon a time in the west’ by Ennio morricone.(and many Leone-Ennio combos like The good, the bad and the ugly -’Ecstasy of gold’, The mission). From ‘The Godfather’ to the recent ‘Sin City’. Quite recently ‘300′.
One of my favorites: Requiem for a dream – Clint Mansell.
Ravi, liked your choice of music. LOTR is the definitive score of this decade, personally I believe, after the Rambo trilogy, this is the most engaging and enthralling piece of music written and if you listen both these scores back to back you are going to enjoy them immensely. I think if Jerry Goldsmith would have been alive, he would have surely composed the music for LOTR, not to discredit Howard Shore, who was simply fabulous with giving us so many leitmotifs on an epic scale.
Gladiator was another good score by Hans Zimmer, but if you listen to score of The Prince of Egypt, the chorals will knock your socks off!
Anyways, good to know that there are people out there who actually pay attention to the music. We can have a very good discussion on this subject. Lets say LOTR, what do you think of it, which track you liked the most?
Hi atlaf, my favourite cue from LoTR is from Fellowship of the Ring – “Balin’s Tomb”. It includes the battle music with the cave troll, and a majestic reprise of the Fellowship theme. It sounds awesome in 5.1 surround sound!! Several cues from the Two Towers, such as “Glamdring”, “Gandalf the White”, “Theoden King” and “The Breach of the Deeping Wall” are excellent. Can’t wait for the full release of Return of the king ;) I hope Howard Shore’s rejected score for King Kong is released some day!
Yeah, I also own the complete score of Prince of Egypt, but I just like Lion King better
though the track “The Nile of Blood” is truly astounding! Cheers!
– Ravi
Hi Ravi, agree with you on LOTR, to listen to LOTR in its entirety is a very satisfying experience in itself. The complete recordings do full justice to the talents of Howard Shore. My favorite pieces are the Prologue, which contains the History of the Ring, the track features the ring theme in varied instrumentations and gives us the vision of the ring being dark, grim and foreboding. Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe is another track which has the ring theme playing in a sort of seduction. The Fighting Uruk-Hai, this track begin with the pounding orc theme and constantly changes notes on the musical scale, but the best part comes toward the end, when the chorals cue take over and then give way to the ring theme which makes it grand appearance in a powerful brass statement. I love this piece! Parth Galen is another of my favorites, yeah I do tend to favor those tracks, which have the ring theme featuring in it. In this cue, Shore employs it in a very sinister kind of way, you could almost see Boromir wanting to take the ring from Frodo. Balin
Hi atlaf, I’ve collected several OSTs now, but because I’ve been busy in my studies I haven’t been able to update my list. Here’s my last year’s (11th April 2006) list:-
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
2001 A Space Odyssey (rejected)
Aegis
A Girl named Sooner
A Passage to India
Amerika
Batman begins
Batman
Battle in Outerspace
Black (Game OST)
Bose – The Forgotten hero
Brokeback Mountain (OSt and promo)
Brother Bear
Brother Bear (promo)
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (TV Series Score)
Cherry 2000 Promo (Rare)
Chicken little
Cold Mountain
Corpse Bride
Dinotopia
Disney’s Atlantis
Disney’s Atlantis (Complete score)
Disney’s Bug’s Life
Disney’s Bug’s Life (complete score)
Disney’s Aladdin
Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Disney’s Dinosaur
Disney’s Dinosaur (Complete score)
Disney’s Flight of the Navigator
Disney’s Little Mermaid
Disney’s Monsters inc.
Disney’s Monsters Inc. (Complete score)
Disney’s Pinocchio
Disney’s Sleeping Beauty
Disney’s Talespin (TV Series Score)
Disney’s Toy Story
Disney’s Toy Story 2)
Dreamer
Enter the Dragon
Emperor’s new groove
Fantastic Four
Finding Nemo OST
Finding Nemo (Complete Score)
Gandhi
Galaxy Quest
Gladiator
Gladiator (Complete score)
Glory
Godzilla
Gremlins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Ost and expanded)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (OST and expanded)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban OST
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Hercules
Hitman 1,2,3 OST
Home Alone 3 Promo
Home On The Range promo
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids….
Ice Age
Ice Age (expanded)
Independence Day Complete score
Interpreter
James and The Giant peach
Jaws 1
Jaws 2
jaws 3D
Johnny English
Johnny Quest (cartoon score)
Jungle Book
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (expanded)
Jurassic Park: Lost world (expanded)
Jurassic Park III (complete score)
King Arthur
King Arthur (complete score)
King Arthur (recording sessions)
King Kong
Laserblast
Lion King (Broadway, OST, expanded)
Lion King (No SFX)
Loch Ness
Looney Tunes
Lord of the rings: Fellowship of the ring: Complete score
Mars Attacks
Mask of Zorro
Matrix Reloaded (expanded)
Men in Black II
Mission Imposible II
Mulan
Mulan (complete score)
Mummy Returns (complete)
Pearl harbour
Pearl Harbour (expanded)
Pink panther 2006 OST
Pokemon Movie 1
Raiders of the Loat Ark
Romeo and Juliet
Sleeping Beauty @320
Spiderman 1
Spiderman 1 (expanded)
Spiderman 2
Tarzan and Jane
The Adventures of Tintin
The Beast
The Cat in the Hat
The Day of the Dolphin
The Great raid
The Pirate Movie (LP rip)
The Prince of Egypt (complete score, No SFX)
The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense (complete score)
Titanic
Transformers
Treasure Planet
Trespasser
Twister
Village
Walking with Cavemen
Walking with Dinosaurs
Waterworld
Wing Commander
Warriors of Earth and Heaven
I’ll try to update my list ASAP, once I’m done with my exams!
Hi Ravi, you do possess an interesting score list, looks like you can help me with adding some of your scores to my collection, if it’s alright with you.
I believe you have an affinity toward animated scores, which have a major presence in your list.
Anyways, would like to know your up-to-date list, do mail me.
Sure, once my exams are over ;)
@ ravi K ……that’s an impressive list! …..and have you really got the adventures of tintin score…have been searching for it for a pathetic number of years…..pls tell me frm where you got it…:)
Hi ishaan I got it from a P2P program Filetopia, dl it and search around, you’ll find it! You might also try Soulseek.
Can neone give me link to hindi talespin opening?:(
It is so good to see atleast one write-up about OST’s of Indian films…. here is my thoughts about background scores in Indian films in general
http://sureshmehcnit.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/12/listening-movies.htm
is this forum dead? ….please resurrect..
Wow, this really is an amazing post! btw, Tushar, you’re take on Black has really brought quite a few smiles to my face :D
@ Tushar: “Our films are what they are for their songs”–that’s so true! Can you imagine stars in Hollywood films breaking out into song-and-dance sequences? It simply wouldn’t work. Yet, Bollywood makes it work–that is the beauty/magic of Bollywood cinema and is what makes our cinema distinct from the cinemas of other countries.
Amanda,
So true! There’s this white family in a bollywood film, suddenly papa brings out a guitar and starts singing a waltz, in the middle of a scene, and the six(or is it eight) children kneel in front of him and sing in chorus…..Naah wouldn’t work.
(eidelwiess…eidelwiess….)
@Cdrakenc: you’re acting awfully bitter…are you trying to say that Bollywood films shouldn’t have song-and-dance numbers, or are you just offering a mean-spirited reply to my previous comments?
Amanda
I have nothing to be bitter about.
you are just being wrongly judgemental.
I was acting many things , bitter is not one of them…
I have no view on song and dance sequences in bollywood…or hollywood films. (I notice that there was a typo where I should have said Hollywood when I said Bollywod).
I see…amazing what a typo can convey ;) Anyway, I strongly believe that song-and-dance numbers in Bollywood films are a unique element (and I mean that in a good way). And, as “wrongly judgmental” as I may seem, it really came across as if you are suggesting in a sarcastic manner that it is wrong to compare Bollywood and Hollywood…
I just think that when youre(genric youre) talking to someone about these things you(genric you) can be very jumpy…to conclusiony…
‘as if you are suggesting in a sarcastic manner that it is wrong to compare Bollywood and Hollywood
http://backgroundscore.blogspot.com/
amazing blog….do check out the score analysis of Lagaan..
All those of you who are interested in film score, be it Western or Indian, and are interested to discover more new scores and soundtracks, I recommend you to join the fine film music community of this site -
http://www.maintitles.net
Best way to discover new scores and composers. Have fun! ;)
I dont see anyone mentioning rahman’s “fire” here.The whole album has not even one song.It has total 15 music pieces.
Cinema paradiso has the ost I love the most..