In today’s times, when getting multiple composers on board for a film has become a common practice in Hindi films, one feels very happy upon seeing just one composer (or unit) being credited with putting together the entire album of a film. You become even more interested in the film when you realize the composer has not just done all the songs but also created the score for the film. ‘Gandhari’, a new Netflix original film featuring Taapsee Pannu in the titular role, has all the songs and the score put together by Shor Police, a music outfit comprising Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes.
Shor Police has quite a few solo film soundtracks to their credit, including ‘Dhoom Dhaam’, ‘Pune Highway’ and ‘Baramulla’. They had also done all the songs and the score for the Telugu film ‘Subham’. Inspired from a character from the Mahabharat, ‘Gandhari’ traces the journey of a woman who suffers from complete/partial blindness and has to find her missing daughter before it is too late. The album, released by Netflix Music, features ten tracks. Out of these ten tracks, three are full-fledged songs and the rest are music pieces from the score. The songs have been written by Kausar Munir. Given the theme of the film, one expects the soundtrack to be intense and laced with several emotions.
The trailer of the film did not really give one the impression of the characters being portrayed by Taapsee Pannu and Ishwak Singh being from Punjab. It is, therefore, a little surprising to come across a love song like “Dil Jaaneya” which has a lot of Punjabi words and phrases. In recent years, one has seen many films featuring songs with Punjabi lyrics, even though the characters are not from Punjab. “Tainu Khabar” from ‘Munjya’, for instance had Punjabi lyrics, but the film was set in Maharashtra and the characters, too, were from the same state. “Dil Jaaneya”, perhaps, has been made keeping these trends in mind.
The song opens with gentle notes being played on a keyboard. Soon, Ananya Sharma marks her arrival by singing a few lines in Punjabi rather softly. The song, however, moves into a slightly different space as Faheem Abdullah arrives on the scene. His voice is accompanied by the sound of table and dholak. The song, which started off as this lounge-ish number, becomes a very Indian-ized track at this point. The interludes also feature an elaborate Indian-ized music piece comprising table, dholak and harmonium. When Ananya comes back to sing the Antara, the song goes back to being a ballad featuring soft electronic beats. Clinton and Bianca create this very nice balance between the two different soundscapes. Casting two contrasting voices like Ananya and Faheem was also a good idea.
At two minutes and eighteen seconds, “Dil Jaaneya (Reprise)” is shorter than the original track. The song also has a slightly dark and melancholic feel to it, which makes one assume that it would arrive at a crucial juncture in the film where the characters played by Taapsee and Ishwak are going through a difficult time. Deepali Sahay, who recently sang “Tere Paas Main” from ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’, brings out the emotions in the song very well. Yash Kapoor, too, gives a good account of himself.
Since the film is about bond shared by a mother and her little daughter, one was expecting to come across a song like “Bitiyaa” which talks about this bond. Clinton and Bianca compose a tune that is gentle and easy on the ears. When one pays close attention to the lyrics written by Kausar Munir, one realizes the song, most likely, would be heard in the film after the tragic, inciting incident has already taken place. Some of the lines written by Kausar (“kabhi haq se, kabhi chhal se, kabhi cheer de toh kabhi har le, devi ko bhi kahaan chhode, daanav hai yeh duniya”) highlight the kind of issues and tragedies women face in this world. Devashri Manohar’s voice has an old-world charm to it and she sings the song very well. Her heart-rending rendition, in fact, is one of the highlights of the song.
As stated earlier, the album features seven music pieces that have been used as a part of the score. Listening to these pieces, among other things, gives one an idea about the different narrative beats in the film. “Two Faced”, which has a duration of one minute and twenty-nine seconds, features the kind of electronic beats that give a sinister vibe to it. “The Long Pursuit”, the next track on the album, coasts along less frantically but has intensity written all over it.
“Training Ground” is two minutes and eleven seconds long. Going by the title and the soundscape it offers, one expects to arrive at a time when the character played by Taapsee Pannu goes through rigorous training in order to bring her daughter back despite the issues she faces with her vision. The vocal parts, rendered by Clinton, give a North Eastern folk-ish vibe to the track. The same can be said about the vocal renditions in “Mahashakti” a track which offers a heightened sense of drama.
The one minute and thirty-four seconds long “Street Whisperers”starts off with rhythmic electronic beats before leading to eerie silence and finally concluding on a sinister note. The last two tracks, “Belly of The Beast” and “Jaago Chowmukhi”, happen to be the longest pieces from the score on the album. “Belly of the Beast” seems to have been designed to heighten the sense of dread in a sequence. Along with traditional sounds heard during pooja, “Jaago Chowmukhi”features chants rendered powerfully by Clinton.
In today’s times, one often feels sad, but not surprised, to see music labels releasing the entire album days (sometimes weeks) after a film has released in the theatres. Even if the songs are released a few days prior to the film’s arrival in cinemas, the score (if at all) gets released much later. It is, therefore, refreshing to see the makers of ‘Gandhari’ releasing the album, featuring both songs and pieces from the original score, days before the film gets a global release on Netflix.
The soundtrack of ‘Gandhari’, put together by Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes/Shor Police gives you little to complain about. While the three songs are engaging, the different music pieces familiarize you with the mood and theme of the film. The soundtrack has done a good job of making one curious about the film by introducing one to different elements in it through music.