MUMBAI: Days before his passing, legendary music composer Anand Modak was in his studio adding a few finishing touches to the music for the upcoming Marathi period drama, ‘Rama Madhav’. Modak is well known for his music for the National Award winning film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’. His original composition for Rama Madhav not only revives old Marathi music, but also re-popularises it with sampling music from The Beatles, managing to attract the attention of GenX.
Modak has composed five songs for the film, in addition to the score. These songs, being as distinctively singular as they might be, find a common thread in the melancholy that lingers in the background of this epic film. ‘Rama Madhav’ chronicles the love story between Madhavrao Peshwa and Ramabai.
Mrinal Kulkarni, director of the film, spoke to Radioandmusic.com about her experience working with the late musician for the film. “I had a great experience working with the Anand Modak. I have always been a fan of his music, and I was very happy when he agreed to compose for my film,” said Kulkarni.
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While collaborating with Modak, Kulkarni asked him to compose the music for today’s generation. And according to her, Modak has used old tunes and made them attractive by giving them a fresh new modern approach. Kulkarni also said that Modak had strictly used only the old musical instruments and none of the new ones.
“He made me listen to the old tunes that he planned to incorporate in his composition for the film. One of them was that of The Beatles for the romantic song, ‘Swapnihi Navhte Disale’. He also used the Tarana music for the mujra ‘Loot Liyo Mohe Shyam’,” said Kulkarni.
Speaking of the mujra, the song’s lyricist Vaibhav Joshi said of its conception, “Since a mujra is often romantic in nature, given the Battle of Panipat which was ensuing in the background, I decided to make the song aggressive and passionate”. Joshi wrote the entire song in the Braj Bhasha, one of the predominant literary languages in the 19th century.
Although they have been friends for a long time, Joshi said that Modak kept telling him to wait until the perfect project came along for them to work together. Joshi further added, “The night before his untimely passing, we worked together (on ‘Loot Liyo Mohe Shyam’) in the studio. He was very co-operative throughout the collaboration.”
