Only last month saw the release of a musical prison drama in Habib Faisal’s Qaidi Band . The debutant director Ranjit Tiwari is undeterred by the similarities pointed out between the film and his own debut Lucknow Central . “The narratives of the films are completely different,” he maintains while explaining that no two films can be absolutely similar. He claims to have not been following Qaidi Band’s performance, and is unaware of its weak reception. “I am more concerned about what I can do, and what my film can do,” he says.
Lucknow Central is the tale of a man accused of murder, who joins a band of convicts formed by an NGO worker to participate in a music competition. “Normally, you would associate a jail film with being dark,” says the director. “But it isn’t. It is about hope and aspirations. It is about how you can dream in spite of whatever circumstance you are in.” And with music serving as the channel that carries the film’s story forward, Tiwari goes on to talk about how integrating music into the plot came naturally to him.
Having been brought up in Calcutta, music was an intrinsic part of the director’s childhood. His own taste veers towards the 1960s and 70s. R. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar — known for revolutionising Bollywood music — have been Tiwari’s favourites. “Their songs stay with you,” says the director. “So I wanted songs [for the film] that people would be able to recollect easily.” He has been fortunate to have producer Nikkhil Advani and actor Farhan Akhtar on board, both of whom have a great ear for music.”
To execute his sonic vision, Tiwari got on board not one, but three young music directors. The composer of three of the film’s songs, Arjunna Harjaie has worked with the film’s producer Advani before, having composed the music for his television series, P.O.W. – Bandi Yuddh Ke (2016). Along with Harjaie, Rochak Kohli, who debuted withVicky Donor’s (2012) ‘Pani da Rang’, and Tanishk Bagchi who co-directed the music for Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015), also composed some of Lucknow Central’s songs. “The film is very earthy, rooted and has mitti ki khusbhoo,” explains Tiwari. “And since the music is driven by the content of the film, I narrated the visuals to the music directors.” Tiwari laughs and says they were surprised since the music directors are usually never briefed about the film’s entire narrative.
While the film is inspired by the real-life Lucknow-based band of convicts called Healing Hearts, their music is different from the film’s tracks. “They play popular film songs, and have a brass band kind of [sound],” says Tiwari. “Sometimes they play English numbers also. Not a lot of them know English, but they memorise the lines and play – it’s beautiful,” he adds. The director continues in an incredulous tone about how the band grew so popular, they even made a booking counter for them at the jail.
Tiwari has worked with Advani on many of his directorial ventures, and was his first assistant on Patiala House (2011). While he owes a lot to Advani, the debutant director says he finds inspiration and a voice within his own experiences. “I came to Mumbai with a dream of making a film ten years back, so some part of me is in the film. Luckily, I met Nikkhil who gave me a chance to work with him, and I learnt a lot from him,” shares Tiwari. “A lot of people had told me that it would be difficult since I am from a non-filmy background,” he continues, “but I kept chasing my dream.” That aspiration turns into reality this Friday.
Published - September 14, 2017 09:20 pm IST
