The intricate art of scoring for films

For composer and lyricist Dhruv Dhalla, music is therapeutic and something that helps him accomplish individual goals. He loves to experiment with various styles and genres. In his last Bollywood score for Tere Bin Laden 2, he created different background tracks for various characters and situations. “There is a different beat and a unique style taken into consideration from characters like President Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden, to places like Chandni Chowk in Delhi and the White House in Washington,” shares Dhruv.

The project took two-and-a-half years to complete. Dhruv utilised this time to do research on the orchestral score of the movies like Gladiator, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Inception as he wanted to create a score that is funny and appears to be grandeur. “I’m a huge fan of Hans Zimmer and I’m truly inspired by his background scores, as they are very critical to the entire filmmaking process. These scores give a whole new dimension to the sound and emotional experience of any given situation in a film,” says the composer.

Talking about his rapport with the film’s director Abhishek Sharma, he adds, “Working with Abhishek is not at all easy. But he makes you do brilliant things. He pulls out things from you that you did not even know existed. And the process can be time-consuming because he selects one or two pieces from fifty music pieces. With him, there are more rejections than approvals. But at the end of the day, the work is very soul satisfying. I will be working on another project with Abhishek in the coming future.”

His music has a significant Western influence and when quizzed about the same, Dhruv says, “There is nothing called Indian or Western music. The music principles of rhythm, melody and harmony are the same everywhere. At the end of the day, every piece of music that one makes is to evoke an emotion. It needs to take you to another level and this is what I work towards. When I make a musical piece it has to make your heart heavy in an emotional scene. It should get your pulse racing in a fight sequence.”

Next in the pipeline for Dhruv is a film that has long been in the making. “I was working on this project for for Sanjay Dutt’s production starring Mr Bachchan but it had to be put on hold. There is another mafia-based film that I will be working on soon,” he reveals.