While the film directed by Sudipto Sen is rich in emotion quotient, we asked the music director how difficult it was for him to compose the music for ‘The Kerala Story’. “After I finished watching the movie, he drenched me emotionally. I just thought I should sit down and think about all those women who have had to put up with these awful acts in life. It took me almost a day to recover from the emotional stress and then discussed with the director and producer how we should approach it and how the music will be composed to capture the emotional aspect of the story. Frankly speaking, I didn’t take any extra preparation. When I was watching the movie in the back of my mind, I was working on the music instantly. The emotional turmoil of the protagonists hit me so hard that it left me speechless. Bishakh shared with ETimes during an exclusive chat.
Talking about his composition for the song ‘Pagal Parindey’ sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Bishakh himself, the music director shares an interesting story: “Pagal Parindey became a big hit. It has been trending on YouTube for a week and has received so much love from listeners. But due to the controversy surrounding the film, this song didn’t get the limelight it deserved. Also, in the film, when the credits roll, there is another song “Akhir Kyu” composed and performed by yours truly. We thought people saw the whole movie from a woman’s point of view. Why not try using the song from a male perspective? Just as reasonable women and men will also protest this heinous act against women. So we decided to go ahead with my version eventually and it worked out pretty well.
Sadly, Bishakh Jyoti’s West Bengal state banned the film three days after its release and it also let the singer down. “I know that the Government of Bengal made the decision keeping the law and order situation in mind, but at the same time, being a part of the film, I was sad to see that the film was banned in my state. I regretted that more people could have seen ‘The Kerala Story’ especially when the response was already huge. I believe that more than judging the film by its merit, the controversies have been the focus from the very beginning. It overshadowed all the amazing work we’ve done. Not only the music, but the cinematography is also fantastic. Several critics praised the music and cinematography departments, but the debate around the film’s subject matter took all the limelight.
There’s one more thing you want to point out. The music director is sad to see how the Bengali music and film fraternity has neglected him despite him being from this state. “I don’t know why this happened to me. I am the youngest Bengali to win a national award. I was invited by IFFI to be a judging panel yet, in my state, I haven’t received the appreciation I expected all these years. I have been working in Mumbai for 10 years but I still have my roots in Bengal and I will never forget it. But the behavior of the industry here hurt me. But I know I have to continue what I’m doing and these things will never get in the way of my work,” he added.
Talking about his upcoming projects, Bishakh jyoti shares that he has three films lined up alongside his ambitious independent work. “I will be busy working on three big budget Bollywood films. Also, I’m planning to do a folk fusion series. It will be a collaboration with international artists and rappers. I know it will take some time since I have to work on it whenever I have time between my film project. This is a dream project and I don’t want to rush it. Let’s take some time to create a masterpiece,” said the music director concluding the conversation.
