Oceanic sounds

Indian Ocean on maintaining their integrity and on their new role as music directors

There's a small set of musicians who don't compromise. They're content doing select shows, they're content reaching out to a 'niche' audience and more than anything else they're content not changing their music or their sound for anything or anyone.

To this select group belongs Indian Ocean, one of the country's most popular bands, who have just wrapped up an album for Anurag Kashyap's latest film Black Friday.

Though the film, based on the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, is shrouded in controversy and still hasn't been released "" there is an interim stay on it by the Supreme Court "" the music released by Times Music is out and is getting its share of critical acclaim.

For those of you still oblivious to Indian Ocean and their brand of music, here's a quick recap.

The four-member band based in New Delhi started when Susmit Sen and Asheem Chakravarty started jamming and performing together in 1984 with Sen on guitar and Chakravarty on tabla and drums.

While Rahul Ram joined the band on bass guitar in 1991, Amit Kilam made his entry in 1994. The band had seen its share of change in the line-up of members in the initial years but once these four got together, Indian Ocean was complete.

The no-compromise stance isn't an easy one. All musicians dream of being heard around the country, and even all over the world. But the going is very tough, sometimes impossible.

Which is why musicians and numerous music bands change track. Numerous music groups and bands in India have been pressed to change their sound, to compromise on their music and to mark a shift from what they originally started out to be.

Nothing wrong with this, since that's what music companies in India usually want and that's what really "sells". But this is also why maintaining one's integrity is such an achievement.

So how does one describe the Indian Ocean sound? Chakravarty and Sen get into an argument when we pose this question to them.

While Sen prefers to skip the question, insisting that listeners should be the ones to define the Indian Ocean brand of music, Chakravarty says: "It's a sound that reflects our individual tastes and distinguishes our musical personalities."

Some more cajoling and Sen offers an explanation, "We go by instinct, we don't follow typical chord patterns like most other bands." For Kilam, "It's a jamming experience that perhaps spills over to becoming a synchronised sound", and for Ram, "It's an Indianness and a folk flavour that gives Indian Ocean its distinct sound."

How was the transition to becoming India's first foursome music directors for a film? "It's not a typical Bollywood film anyway," Sen corrects us.

"It's a film that is serious in its content and in its presentation." Though the four are all praise for Anurag Kashyap, the director, Ram points to the glitches as a music director.

"What one hears in the album is a stark contrast from what one hears while viewing the film." What went wrong? In his view, "A music director isn't a film director and a film director isn't a music director.

However, in the film our musical portions have suffered because of the film's editing. 'Memon House', one of the instrumental tracks in the film's album, can hardly be heard in the film.

"What the music 'album' offers is not what the 'film' offers as far as music is concerned," he asserts bluntly.

The music of Black Friday is a winner in its own unique way. But listeners are advised to keep in mind the content of the film before passing judgement on its music.

It isn't the run-of-the-mill story, it's not a film on college romance, it's not a frothy love story. Instead, it reflects a cinema that's based on reality.

"It's stark reality," as Sen puts it. Which is why Piyush Mishra comes up with gripping lyrics. A sample, "Arre ruk ja re bandeh/ Arre tham ja re bandeh/ Ke kudrat hans padegi/ Arre mandir ye chup hai/ Arre masjid ye gumsum/ Ibadat thak padegi ho/ Samay ki lal aandhi kabristan ke raaste / Arre latpath chalegi ho.

Indian Ocean has undoubtedly delivered hard-hitting music that has tremendous appeal and power to sustain one's interest.

And trust us, if the music makes you feel depressed, makes you cringe in your seat, makes you want to cry out loud, then it has succeeded. Because that's exactly what Indian Ocean has set out to deliver.

It's music from the heart to connect to the heart.