Dhirendra Mulkalwar has grown up and been engulfed in music, be it via family, inspirations, college, and many other streams. Through struggles and determined endurance, he has reached this stage where his music is leaving an everlasting impression on the audience, urging them to hum his tunes on their way out. With an endless flow of inspiration and an ever-flowing fountain of curiosity, Dhirendra Mulkalwar speaks with us on this grateful journey of his. Here are the excerpts:
When you first sat down with the team to discuss the tone, what was the brief you were handed, and how did you handle it?
The brief for the film was very simple. He said that it had to have the essence of Bharatiya sabhyata (Indian civilization), because the film is set in the pre-independence era. Because it is based in the heartland and rural India, it needs “woh mitti ki khushboo hai, woh sangeet mein ya film mein woh jhalakni chahiye” (The earthly aroma of the mud; we need a glimpse of it in the music). Sangeet actually khushboo phailata hai (the music brings out that essence)
While foreigners would find it hard to understand Hindi, music can convey the emotions of any scene. So, music is the second language, and I wrote the dialogues universally. I had to be very sensitive and delicate, as Babaji is followed by crores of people. Not just from India, but throughout the world, including huge figures like Mark Zuckerberg, Julia Roberts, and Larry Brilliant.
For the first two months, I couldn’t make anything and was just rejecting idea after idea. After that, I thought about Babaji and surrendered. The same day, I did a smaran of Babaji, picked up the guitar, and began plucking some guitar patterns on it. Suddenly, within five to seven minutes, I basically made one tune, and I sent it to my director. And after two to three days, I went to the office. That’s when I saw everybody playing that theme on a loop, and he said, “We found the sound of Hanu-Man.” And I think that was the moment that, you know, I realized that I have to stop searching and just, you know, sit still and maybe surrender yourself, and, you know, things will come to you.
The core idea of that melody came to me, and I believe it was sent by Babaji or Hanuman ji.
To be able to produce a score for such a high-stakes production, did it require a good bond of trust between you, the director, and the producer?
I knew Vishal Chaturvedi ji for more than a year before the film. I had been trying to go to Kainchi Dham for four years, but it never happened. Last year, however, I had gone to Kainchi Dham in April, and Vishal ji offered me this film in July.
So when he offered the task to me, I told him, “I had just been to Kainchi Dham, after years of being unable to.” He was very surprised. We later met at his office, where he kept a paath of Hanuman Chalisa for 43 days before the film began shooting. It was during the paath that I was offered the Hanuman Chalisa paath.
We had such a great bond with each other as well as with the subject of Babaji. We were spiritually inclined. Even the producers, Ragini ji, Namrata ji, Anupriya ji, and many other cast and crew members are all spiritually inclined towards Babaji. That strong bond kind of helped us give our best and bring Vishal ji’s vision to life the way he imagined it.
What would you consider one of your best projects, regardless of what others have thought about it?
It has to be Hanuman Ansh. Not because everybody’s talking about it, but because I spent almost seven to eight months working on this project with dedication and many man-hours. I changed my routine for this. So, I would wake up early in the morning and, after doing snaan (shower) and pooja, would sit to work on this till night. I spent many hours working on it, and not settling for just good ideas but trying to find even better ones.
As the budget was low, I converted my house into a studio and called in a lot of favours with my friends who are musicians. Vishal ji also requested Swar Sharma, the young grandson of Pandit Jasraj and maybe his last disciple, to come record, which he gracefully accepted.
Vishal ji and I were clear about giving the movie a cinematic experience. We had to incorporate the correct essence, choose the right instruments, certain singing styles, dialect of the lyrics, and everything according to the region from where the artists came. If you give the audience anything short of that, the canvas would seem bigger and less sonically infused. So I had to keep all this in mind from the beginning without compromising the roots of the film, i.e., the Bharatiya ethos.
The melodies had to be raw, folky, and rooted in its core idea. The background instrumentation around it is done in a way where it isn’t prominent in the forefront so that you can feel it. We retained the authenticity so that someone from that region would also immediately recognize it. Sunil Lodhi’s bhajan, “Maine Tere Hi Bharose Hanuman,” is an example of that.
Did Vishal Chaturvedi sing a song for Hanuman Ansh?
Did Vishal Chaturvedi sing a song for Hanuman Ansh?
Vishal ji is such a crafty person, has a taste for such a good thing, and is someone who’s very gifted and understands people’s emotions very well. He understands music himself and sings very well. In fact, he did not just shoot the music videos but sang one song as well. It was “Hridaya Mein Jinke Sita Ram.”
When the movie ends, the song comes out during the end credits. When people are coming out, they are coming with this tune, humming it. I feel he has the right balance and mindset for direction and excels at understanding the emotion of the cast and crew he works with, the story, and his characters.
You can hear Vishal Chaturvedi’s Hridaya Mein Jinke Sita Ram here:
Are there any prospective projects that have come your way, or are there any specific actors or projects you are eyeing?
I am getting calls and being contacted by a lot of people. We are in talks also for some projects, but I think it’s too early right now. I’m basically processing all that is currently happening. But once something is concrete, I’m sure we’ll get to know that.
How do you define your work as an electric mix of Indian folk styles and electronic cinematic sounds and orchestral elements? Can you talk us through what helped you realize this style of yours?
I come from this small place in Maharashtra called Chandrapur, which used to be a Naxal-affected district. I grew up very close to the forest and have done wildlife conservation, including rescuing tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and spotted deer.
Growing up and listening to them, I inherited a sense of folk music from a very young age. My elder brother was also a driving force behind my musical sanskar, because he’s six years older than me. When we came to Bombay around 1995, the first composer I heard was A.R. Rahman. My brother’s fondness for the music influenced me in a good way to see the depth in it. I was so hooked on it that I would wait for it to come on Doordarshan and listen to the music. Also, my Guruji, the late Rajiv Pille sir ji, introduced me to this beautiful world of Indian classical music, Marathi bhavgeet, and Marathi semi-classical music.
When my brother went to do engineering in Nagpur, he would bring interesting music from there, like Bryan Adams, MLTR, Enrique Iglesias, Guns N’ Roses, and others. That is how I got introduced to international music. During my audio engineering course in Mumbai, I got introduced to a whole world of music, like Telefon Tel Aviv, Pink Floyd, and Brainticket, and world music such as African, Spanish, Cuban, Ólafur Arnalds, Icelandic, and so many things. Over time, my sonic palette became refined with such a wide spectrum of music.
So, I had folk on one side, then classical, IDM, EDM, rock, heavy metal, psychedelic, and so many more. I have reached a point where I get close to a person when I learn that they have really good taste in music and seek to learn more.
Who do you say is your favorite artist?
Beatles, Guns N’ Roses, and I can go on and on about those ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. I am a die-hard Michael Jackson fan, and I follow his orchestrator and producer, Quincy Jones. Similarly, Frank Sinatra and his producer, Claus Ogerman. So I am very ecstatic about delving into that world of music.
Even the new Michael Jackson movie, I loved it personally. On days when I’m not feeling great, I just go and listen to “Thriller” or “Bad”. I’ll just put it on and even use them to test new speakers in my studio. Those are my reference tracks.
I also admire his work ethic to find that one sound. He would keep experimenting and not give up till he knew the sound was perfect. My process during the seven to eight months I worked on Hanuman Ansh was inspired by Michael. When anyone ever asked why I was obsessing over the music, I would say, “Maybe because I watched and read too much about Michael Jackson.”
Were your parents always supportive of your musical journey?
A big reason why I am doing music is my elder brother and my parents. We come from a very humble background. My parents were government teachers. Coming from such beginnings, there was always likely to be some hesitation in terms of choosing a career in music. But they were very supportive.
From when I was a child, I wanted to learn music. They encouraged me and sent me to basically take music lessons with my late Guruji Rajiv Pille ji. When he got a job, he supported me financially. When I had to take up an audio engineering course, my father took out a loan, after which I went to Mumbai, and my brother took care of my expenses and stuff like that. They never made me feel like I chose the wrong path and kept pushing me.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to a young Dhirendra during his struggling, enduring days, when he wondered if the world would ever hum his tunes?
One piece of advice that kept me going that is also part of the Gita was from my parents. It was, “Aap apna kaam karna, woh aapke haath mein hai. Woh successful hoga ya nahi hoga, woh aapke haath mein nahi hai. Woh aapko niyati degi.” (You do your work, as that’s in your hands. Whether or not it will be successful is not in your hands but in the hands of destiny.)
So learn your craft well and be passionate about it. Music or any art field is a passion-driven career. You have to first and foremost be a curious audience and then a creator. How artists create music is dependent on their lifestyle, their routine, their workflow, their mindset, or what things they’re reading and listening to.
And another piece of advice I would like to share is, “Apne inspiration ka inspiration dhoondo.” (Look for your inspiration’s inspiration.) Taking Michael Jackson as an example, he saw James Brown as an inspiration. So I even studied James Brown to understand his learning in a deeper context.
You can hear Dhirendar Mulkalwar’s song here:
Also Read: Photos: Sonam, Sara and more shine in chic outfits at Ambani’s Ganpati puja
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
