There are some idioms of music that become permanent ear bugs. In 2004, when Rituparno Ghosh’s film Raincoat was released, both the movie and its music simply lingered on; on and on. Could one help, but stalk this special musical mind who could fuse poetry and music in a way that they sound like each other. At some point, you realise that they magically begin a conversation with the listener. The intensity takes you to a seamless world, where words and music transform into a deep silence. The songs of Raincoat are haunting, and most importantly, with each listening the meaning of the film gets extended. This was the beginning of a long encounter with the remarkable musician, Debojyoti Mishra.
Rich and intense Debojyoti Mishra’s music works closely with the content on screen
Debojyoti’s father Jahnavi Ranjan Mishra was a musician from whom he started his lessons as a three year old. He started learning the sitar and sarod, later shifting to the violin. An accomplished violinist that he was, Debojyoti was the lead, solo violinist for Satyajit Ray. He worked for 14 years as chief assistant to great composers like Salil Chowdhry and Ilaiyaraja. He had a long innings in the world of advertisements and composed over 500 jingles.
So one led to the other -- Chokher Bali, Antarmahal, Chitrangada, Autograph, Memories of March etc. There aren’t too many full-fledged vocal renditions in the opulent Chokher Bali . But in Debojyoti’s musical narrative – rich and evocative – you can hear Tagore’s songs, folk forms of Bengal, Indian classical, Brahms and Beethoven. His orchestra is large scale, and what he achieves with his instruments and human voice is stunning. For instance, let’s take these two scenes in Chokher Bali where a single line (“Aao Sameep” and “Bikasita Preeti Kusume”) is sung in harmony by nearly 20-30 voices over lush violin passages. Musically it is extraordinary and perhaps there are few parallels to what Debojyoti achieves in the history of film music in India. What is however of greater significance is the way he imagines music: Debojyoti layers this piece of towering effect with multiple idioms creating a textured soundscape. This, he does not use as a technique merely, but as a musical belief that enhances the content of the scene. His music tells the story that is being told on screen, but at the same it also captures hidden registers. Therefore, it is both intellectual and psychological. To illustrate this is a song from Iti Mrinalini. The song has the nostalgic feel of Seventies Hindi film music. The opening guitar chords, the extensive use of accordion, the gentle whistling bestows a light, breezy feel to the song, but even if you are not watching the film and just listening to the song, you cannot miss a lurking sadness.
Aishwarya Rai performs on set during the filming of the Bengali film "Chokher Bali" in Calcutta
Debojyoti is an eclectic musician and it is difficult to find two songs in the same style. His fascination for the experience of human life has taken him to various forms of music. In his compositions, music does not emanate from music alone: they come from poetry, painting, and a range of other things. You do occasionally find traces of one one melody over the other (for instance, “Piya Tora Kaisa Abhiman” from Raincoat influences the opening phrases of “Engu Ninnu” for the Malyalam film, Calcutta News ), that apart each song has an independent life. While there are very minimalist songs like “Mathura Nagarapathi” with an elaborate orchestra and no percussions, there are also those like “Piya Bole” (from Dharm , Sonu Nigam) or “Mere Lalla” ( Memories of March , Sapna Mukherjee) which have strong tunes, and an equally rich orchestra. If you take these two songs as case studies, quite a few things about the composer emerges. The composition and the arrangement of the instruments bears the influence of R.D. Burman. The tunes are raga based, and tow the traditional line. But the orchestra and the use of chorus come with a huge western influence. “Smritir Sahor”, a poem by Sunil Gangopadhyay, is a very interesting composition. It is close to the spoken word, has a revolutionary feel to it, reminiscences of Tagore and a western orchestra. “Amake Amar Moto Thakte Dao” in Autograph (Anupam Roy), a runaway hit, is young, energetic and romantic. The song has a completely different feel, different from everything that you imagined Debojyoti Mishra to be.
On listen to these songs, you begin to feel Debojyoti Mishra’s music is a conversation with traditions of music, and the several composers who have shaped his music. Debojyoti’s music is intense and rich to say the list, even when they are minimal. He brings diverse idioms together and coalesces them into a form and narrative that is entirely his own. If Ilaiyaraja could get Tyagaraja to hold a conversation with Bach ( Nothing But Wind ), Debojyoti collapses Beethoven’s symphony into the score of Meghe Dakha Tara .
Mark Twain says, “Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation”, Debojyoti defines the present with the conversations he has with his past. It’s indeed clear why those songs from Raincoat lingered on.
Inner Voice is a fortnightly column on film music
