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Sneak Peek into the music of Sholay 3-D
Sholay is a landmark film, but would you watch the 3-D version? With impeccable composing, sound mixing and designing by Raju Singh Panesar, Kunal Mehta and Parikshit Lalwan, the Dolby Atmos effects had made a huge difference to the soundscape. Sound Box gets a sneak peek into the making of this mammoth project to watch out for
When Sholay was being re-made in 3-D, it aroused many emotions among its fans, the media and the film/music industry alike. There were doubts, cynicism, opposition and also proposition to do it in a certain fashion. Some did not approve the idea and were repelled by the very thought, “Arre it is Sholay! How dare anyone remake it?” But now that the deed has been done, the question is to see how this offering is different.
The Magical Burman
Burman da’s genius is evident through Sholay. Recorded in the 1970s with limited resources, compositions such as Mehbooba Mehbooba and Yeh Dosti continue to mesmerise music composers and aficionados alike. While it is a challenge in itself to remake the original songs, the complexities are now audible and rather heightened. The music directors Raju Singh Panesar, Kunal Mehta and Parikshit Lalwan have doctored the original soundscape with the help of Dolby Atmos 7.1. One can now catch every sound easily — from shattering of glass in the track Jab Tak Hai Jaan, to the whistling of the steam engine in the first half of the film.
On a Musical Quest
Imitating styles and mannerisms is always a task; and when the project demands exact replication of someone as legendary as RD Burman, the stake rises music higher. One has to pick a composer who can do justice to the project, by bringing freshness yet keeping the essence of the movie intact.
Stating that choosing a music composer was not an easy job, the film distributor and presenter Jayantilal Gada Chairman of Pen India mentions, “We had a qualification test to have best music director, and asked composers to send a sample of their work. Some denied sending the samples, while we didn’t like the work of some others. We decided to offers the project to Raju Singh Panesar after going through his portfolio.”
Though Panesar had an opportunity to work with Burman da earlier, refining the soundtrack of Sholay was still the most challenging task. “Sholay is not just known for its screenplay but also for its music. We had to be careful as everyone remembers the film. We did not want to mess with the authenticity of the film, and neither of the producers wanted to edit the film. Receiving a project that not only deals with recomposing the music, but the whole film was the most exciting yet challenging job,” shares Panesar. The director’s work and credibility was also vouched for and recommended by the writer of Sholay, Javed Aktar. “Kunal and Parikshit were approached first, and I am grateful that Javedji recommended me for the project. After that, the producers asked us to work on the train sequence of the film to see what we can do. We took 20 days to submit the sample edit,” says Panesar.
Replicating the Soundscape
There was a time when audio cassettes of Sholay were played in every nook and corner of the country, to such an extent that people knew each dialogue, scene-by-scene by heart. Even when Dolby launched their format, the Atmos, a sound designer apparently asked, “If weare watching Sholay then how will the coin toss sound?” That makes Sholay a landmark reference in its own right.
Mehta reveals that they only had the main print and not the separate dialogue and music tracks to work on. The sound designers filtered the dialogues before working on the music track, without employing any new dubs and that took almost eight months. Produced 36 years ago, the mixing style of the film was also very different. The dialogue track had music as well, but one cannot hear it as the film was produced with four stereos. As 3-D conversion added finesse, eliminating dialogue track music was not an easy job for them. They couldn’t eliminate everything from the dialogue, and instead had to camouflage some portions. The producers had to restore the negative film first and upgrade it to HD (high definition), and then go into the conversion process, to rework the sound
Lalwan reveals, “At times, the tracks were so meticulously placed that it was difficult to figure whether the dialogue has music or not. How will you know if there is music behind the dialogue? We had to hear each frame repeatedly and if there was sound, we had to
insert, shift, play, and detune the music, as we cannot do much. Sometimes, we pitched the dialogue too. It took almost a year to finish the design, so that people don’t feel it is all mixed. ” India’s first female re-recording mixing engineer Geeta Gurappa from Media artists, Chennai has mixed the film.
Amplification of sound due to Dolby Atmos 7.1 mix and stereoscopic sound was another added concern for the trio. “Earlier, the sound was audible only through the side speaker. But now, high end technology has added height to the sound; one can hear the music from the top as well,” Mehta points out.
For a composer, it is always grueling to work on a defined sound palette as it limits their creativity. It is even more challenging when one has to work on a decade old cult, classic sound and replicate the work of a legend. In order to retain similarity, Panesar had to record everything on a keyboard and mark each portion. The task took two months. It was only then that he replaced the acoustic and checked what was played, which instruments were used. “We sketched the procedure by working on 10 to 20 seconds of a section, and then rewinded to see if it was seamless. We had to recompose some portions, as the music wasn’t audible in some sections. We have no new dubs; the music and effects are exactly the same,” Panesar says.
Rewinding To An Era
It was also a task for the trio to recreate sounds of that particular era such as that of guns and steam engines.
So, how did they generate the sounds that were no longer in use?
“In the track song Mehbooba, Burman da had used a customized instrument; the sound of the same instrument was also used for Gabbar’s theme. We tried to replicate it on electronic, but couldn’t, so we found the person who made the instrument. Unfortunately, he passed away, so we got in touch with his son and thankfully he it. That’s how we replicated the sound,” divulges Lalwan. He further adds, “Also, we have kept the voice on centre track and got musicians to play with it. The crystal wasn’t there in old times everything was handheld, so the tempo was very random. We created surround sound with the help of live musicians. The violinists who played were the children of the violinists of the original film.”
Sholay is dear to everyone, and working on the movie not only motivated the composer or designers but the whole crew. Giving an instance on how their foley guy actually bled for obtaining the exact sound, Panesar shares, “The people in the industry are quite emotional when it comes to Sholay. For the track Jab Tak Hai Jaan Main Nachungi, the foley guy took off his shoes for the acquiring the sound of crushing of glass, as we could not get the proper sound when he was dancing with his shoes on.”
Financial Engagement
To re-introduce the 70s classic film Sholay in a 3-D format, producer Jyantilal Gada has invested approximately Rs 25 crore in the project. Stating that they wanted to provide viewers the best experience, Gada says, “Sholay is a cult classic and popular among Indians. The Indian public loves the movie, and we didn’t want to fall short of the audience’s expectations. While remaking the movie, we made sure that we would bring out a fine product. We didn’t want to compromise on any element. We employed the best technology at high cost for the same.” Since Sholay is widely known for its music and background score, Gada further stated that he has invested approximately one crore in remaking the music of the film.
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