Ishfaq-ul-Hassan
SRINAGAR: Santoor maestro Abhay Rustom Sopori was pleasantly surprised when he received a call from famed Bollywood filmmaker Sudhir Mishra who was in the process of finalizing the cast and crew for his web series `Tanaav’.
Since the web series was set against the Kashmir backdrop, Mishra approached Abhay to compose music though he had already roped in Karel Antonin from Europe. Therefore two composers were hired to compose music for the series.
Luck had other things in store. Tragedy struck Abhay when his father and famous Kashmiri composer Bhajan Sopori was taken ill. “I went off the radar for months. But I am grateful to Sudhir Mishra for bearing with me and giving me time to recover from tragedy. After a few months, I joined the team and composed the music,” Abhay told The Kashmir Monitor.
Come fall of 2021, Abhay arrived in Kashmir and started working on the music. “There are many themes in the series. In the storyline, there are different groups. Each particular group has been identified with sound and melodic structure. Some were identified with rabab and some with santoor. My idea was to use multiple artists to play the same instrument to create a different feel,” he said.
It was not easy, though. Many artists who were well-known in the craft had passed away. Abhay had to start from scratch. “I missed some of my artists. But I somehow pulled it through and the end product came well,” he said.
Abhay also recorded a Kashmiri Chakri for the series. “I composed a famous song in the voice of Gulzar Ganai. I have also composed a Hindi song and it is also making the right noises. Overall the music came out well,” he said.
Directed by Sudhir Mishra and Sachin Mamta Krishn, the 12-episode features Arbaaz Khan, Sukhmani Sadana, Danish Hussain, Ekta Kaul, Manav Vij, M.K. Raina, Rajat Kapoor, Waluscha De Sousa, Zarine Wahab, Satyadeep Mishra, Shashank Arora, and Sumit Kaul.
All the musical recordings have been done abroad. “I have recorded the Indian elements here. It has an international look with a Kashmiri flavor,” said Abhay
Abhay is now busy working on three Bollywood films. “One of the movies is about transgenders. It will be screened at different film festivals. Besides, I want to promote Kashmir music. That is the bottom line of my work,” he said.
