Hopes are riding high on Bombay Velvet which releases on May 15. With Anurag Kashyap calling the shots, the movie has Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar and Kay Kay Menon among others in the cast.
The period film’s sound design and mixing of the movie is also making all the right noises. It is for the first time in the world that a movie has been completely recorded and mixed on 96 kHz [kilo Hertz] using Dolby Atmos. The credit goes to sound designer Kunal Sharma and his Malayali sound re-recording mixers, Sreejesh G. Nair and Justin Jose K.
“Usually films are recorded on 48kHz in Atmos. The decision to change to 96kHz was taken to give an extra clarity, depth and feel to the movie that is set in a particular era,” says Sreejesh.
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Set in the Bombay [Mumbai] of the 50s and 60s, it tells the story of a street fighter, Johnny Balraj (Ranbir), who falls in love with Rosie (Anushka), a beautiful jazz singer.
Retro Bombay is brought alive by the makers not just in terms of looks and set but the sound as well. “The retro sound is created in such a way that you are listening to vintage music/sounds in high quality but without losing the emotion. Kunal and the team have created a growth of sound in the movie as the story progresses,” says Sreejesh.
It was Kunal’s decision to bring Sreejesh and Justin together for the project, a rarity in Bollywood since most films don’t have more than one mixer on board. “We have worked in films of different genres. Though we have known each other for a long time [both of them studied at Chetana Sound Studio, Thrissur], we have never worked together. Thanks to Kunal, we have created history,” he says.
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The challenge was matching up to the directorial skill of Anurag Kashyap, music of Amit Trivedi and visually arresting frames of cinematographer Rajeev Ravi. “Many had doubts about whether we would be able to pull it off. But we have succeeded and the response to the first print was overwhelming. This work will be a milestone in the history of Indian cinema,” says Justin.
Short takes
* Sreejesh and Justin are among the scores of Malayalis who are making themselves heard as sound technicians in Bollywood and other Indian languages. Other Malayali technicians on board Bombay Velvet are Gokul K. R. (sound editor), Sharat Mohan (associate mixer) and Antony Sunny (associate sound editor).
* Sreejesh, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, won the National Award (2013) for his work in Gangs of Wasseypur along with another Malayali Sinoy Joseph. His major works in Bollywood include Kaminey, Paa, Agneepath and Rowdy Rathore .
* Justin, who belongs to Thrissur, has worked in Madras Café , the first Indian film to use a native Atmos mix. Justin has worked in Roy, Bang Bang, Finding Fanny and Hawaa Hawaai.