Against the backdrop of their rising star, Christy Varghese shares a conversation with the composing duo, Naren Chandavarkar and Benedict Taylor
When we watch a film or a show, while our eyes are focussed on the screen, there is a lot more to process than what meets the eye. We are sure you noticed how, with the rise of OTT platforms, elaborate song and dance sequences have taken a backseat to make room for intricate storylines, among other things. However, can you imagine a film/series which does not feature a catchy tune?
Currently, Naren Chandavarkar and Benedict Taylor — the Indian-British composer duo behind enthralling background scores for hits such as Udta Punjab, Paatal Lok, Newton, Ship Of Theseus and That Girl In The Yellow Boots — seem to be hitting all the right notes in the industry. London-based Benedict, trained in the viola and the violin, performs and produces classical, contemporary, and improvised music, while Naren, who resides in Mumbai, has his base rooted in another stringed instrument, the guitar.
Recently, they made headlines for their work on Amit Masurkar’s Sherni, headlined by Vidya Balan, which won accolades not just for its hard-hitting performances and gripping narrative but also for its haunting background score. Just a fortnight after the release of the film, the pair were in the news for their work on the score for Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa from Ray, an anthology based on the works of Satyajit Ray. Going through their itinerary, we knew we had to talk to them before they get any bigger than they already are.
Not much is known about how their collaboration came to be and when we ask them Benedict shares that ever since they were introduced to each other by another musician, Salome Rebello, they got along really well. “It wasn’t one definite moment that initiated our alliance. We both floated the idea in different contexts... about trying different things we were interested in that had come up in conversation. The first instance I remember was Benedict coming in to join the rehearsal for a play we were developing. We workshopped viola and acting improv together and it went incredibly well. This led to more conversations and here we are today,” adds Naren, with a smile.
Indeed, the conversations led to an official collaboration in 2010 for Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots, but how did that happen?
Naren reveals, “I had worked on the music for a theatre piece Anurag had produced, The Skeleton Woman by Kalki Koechlin and Prashant Prakash. He heard the music and asked me to score the film. As soon as he did, I asked Benedict if he’d like to work on it with me.”
While most of us have adapted (more or less) to the WFH culture over the past year in light of the pandemic, the two have been working remotely all along. And they have been doing it splendidly.
Known for stitching their genre-bending music according to the director's vision, Benedict says that it is just how they work. “We embark on a voyage of discovering new sounds, playing with different elements, with each project. However, it has to be said that we enter the realms of the unknown with our working styles in place — which we've spent time refining — and with those foundations, we can then work individually with each director to realise his/her vision of what the music should be like,” he reveals. Naren goes on to add, “With each project, our process changes slightly with the director we work with. However, our journey always starts by gaining clarity on what role music needs to play in the film and what we instinctively feel usually works. It is always about finding musical solutions to the right questions. There is trial and error but it’s directed in a specific direction with the hope of finding what we’re looking for.”
When we ask them if they have any favourites that they regard as the cream of the lot from their growing repertoire of composition, Benedict has a very fitting response, “Impossible to pick one, as you take a great deal from each project. In any project, there are always elements you're thrilled with and things you'd like to change, but that’s the nature of the work. Plus, importantly, every project is so different. If I listen to Paatal Lok one day, Ray the next, and Tryst the day after, I’ll be entering drastically different worlds, all of which serve a certain purpose.”
As we wrap up our conversation, Naren shares that both of them spend time making their own music. “While Benedict produces a lot of singles and albums, we are currently working on a body of work as a duo for release outside of the scoring arena,” he tells us.
We don’t press for more information since there is no doubt they have a nice surprise in store for us.