Making the background score for The Jengaburu Curse was challenging: Alokananda Dasgupta

Alokananda Dasgupta created the background score for the cli-fi web-series 'The Jengaburu Curse', streaming on SonyLIV. (Dasgupta's photo credit: Craig Boehman)

In the world of films and OTT, where emotions are magnified, and narratives woven with threads of drama, romance and action, one element stands as a silent yet powerful protagonist — the background score.

Often overshadowed by the glitz of dance numbers and the charisma of lead actors, background scores play a pivotal role in elevating the cinematic experience, evoking emotions that words and visuals alone cannot capture. It serves as an unspoken language that casts a cinematic spell, case in point, SonyLIV’s The Jengaburu Curse. In an exclusive conversation, Alokananda Dasgupta who has created the background score for the series, and has created a name for herself with her work in the series Jubilee (2023) and Sacred Games 1 & 2 (2018-19 and 2020) and films like Trapped (2016) and AK vs AK (2020), talks about the challenge of creating the score for a climate-fiction series, the need for , and her vision of India in 2047. Edited excerpts:

Alokananda Dasgupta with series director Nila Madhab Panda.

How was it working on this show?

Jengaburu... was the first project I started after Jubilee. And this was a magnum opus, so larger than life that I felt like this will require a lot of energy and hard work. But when I started working on it, the process seemed beautiful, and I will credit the director Madhab (Nila Madhab Panda) for it. He is one of the kindest. He sent me flowers when I had a dental procedure, and was in pain, I was reminded of my Baba. The way we work is very template and by rote, and becomes mechanical after a point but Madhab would understand that certain things require time instead of ‘you must finish this within next week’. It is important to work with the right kind of people. In the emotional aspect, Jengaburu was a very beautiful, loving process of work.

Were there challenges in creating music for Jengaburu...?

Yes, challenges were there. I loved that it's based regionally. How often do we see stories coming out of tribal Odisha? There are a few movies like Newton (2017) that deals with Naxals but we haven’t seen a series this raw, that tells a tribal story, story of the earth, of the red soil.

The cinematography of Jengaburu... was so stark that I immediately felt intimidated by the topography of the visuals. I felt how will I match with this because this is larger than life. There was a lot of elements of suspense and tension. I do dark very easily, and I feel naturally more in-tune with the dark concepts. So, I knew I felt dark watching it, but I also had to balance it with tribal elements, nostalgia and certain emotional elements. And to strike the balance there, I couldn't go all out and orchestrate it because it would be out of place, and I knew I couldn’t go all out electronic, it would be out of place, too. So there was a balance of all this along with acoustic tribal instruments. The soundscape is a balance of this larger-than-life giant, the red soil in the overhead shots, the forest and the tribals. Madhab kept saying, 'Make sure your score reeks of the wail, the lament and cry of the tribals.' I knew I must put some sounds of the earth and used wood winds and flutes. It was an orchestra of tribal elements, folk elements and had the haunting eeriness to it. Even in the opening, I have used a lot of rhythmic idioms from tribals. There is a chant of tribal children that has also been incorporated into the soundscape.

What do you have to say about background scoring in India now?

The good news about BG scoring in India is that it has come on long way. Sacred Games created a stir in BG score, especially in this format that was never done before. AR Rahman tweeted about it. It all happened organically. And ever since, there has been so much conversation about background score. I grew up with it. My Baba used to watch world cinema with me and there was so much BG score in my mind with (Satyajit) Ray, Ilaiyaraaja, Ennio Morricone. But it was only in Bollywood, there was a warped idea about background score. Even today, credits are given like ‘music by…’ and ‘background score by…’, which automatically pushes BG out of the music arena. The correct nomenclature is, ‘Songs by…’ and ‘Background Score by…’. In award categories, they say ‘Technical awards’ and you instantly feel like you are an electrician with a tool box! So, yes, we have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. However, we shouldn’t underestimate the audience, as there are so many of us who seek out score and love it, remember the score of the films we have loved and looking up to check who did it. There are so many who thrive off that. But there still is a giant elephant in the room, which is the industry, the financial side. Score doesn’t reap benefits; you can’t publish or promote it like a song. I understand that it’s the business model. The Sacred Games soundtrack hasn’t even been released yet. It is important to give a chance to the idea of financing and marketing through a score.

What is your method for scoring once you get a project?

My method is extremely old school and organic. I'm classical pianist and I first think on the piano. I also have giant ball of confusion in my brain. I’m very untidy, all over the place and I like being completely isolated. But that's not always professional because I have a team, and people that I must talk to maintain the technical elements. Basically, after I am done with fighting my demons with composing, then I move on to other technical aspects, recording and mixing. But my basic method of scoring is me and the piano. Sometimes, I'd write a line for another instrument also on the piano, but I rarely use the piano actually in my scoring. I write a lot for string instruments, plucked instruments, woodwinds, all on the piano.

In around a little more than two decades India will be celebrating 100 years of independence. What’s your vision for 2047 and the steps for the way forward?

My thought on celebrating 100 years of independence combines a lot of things and it's not just about India. It's a giant milestone. I hope to see the restoration of nature, animals and environment. Coming back to Jengaburu, that is all you want to do at this point where you are almost close to an apocalypse and things are falling apart, there are diseases and mass destruction. I think the vision should primarily entail restoration of nature, climate and the balance between the power and whose hand the power goes to. I am talking about a utopian world, where people live in peace.

What according to you would BGM and music technology be like in India in 2047?

I don't think 2047 necessarily means technology because that’s already happening. I’m not saying it is bad. In fact, for progress in every department, it is imperative that there is technology, development of human intelligence, and intelligence of the process of work, of efficiency. And it’s all happening. So, by 2047, you are probably going to have 50 billion apps and software and 50,000 ways that you can create a soundtrack more easily. But my heart lies in the past. There’s always going to be instruments, always going to be people playing instruments and singing. My hope for music score in 2047 is that of acceptance. Acceptance of clearing hierarchy, clearing the boundaries between what is popular and commercial and what is arthouse. At the end of the day, that is what keeps you going.