Rock On, Ollywood!
When young bands of Odisha are jazzing up their music with a shade of rock and other western genres, Ollywood too has joined the bandwagon.
And the change makes for good business sense with the majority of Odia cine-goers comprising those in the 25-35 age group, feels film director Prem Anand. “When rock in different taste and temper is now the in-thing of Odia music, can Ollywood be far behind? Change is the only constant in this world. So, Ollywood has accepted it and modulated its music to juggle out its own magic,” says Prem.
Music director Sharat Nayak agrees, “A new creative fervour is aflame with 80 per cent of film music packing a punch with western genres to please young listeners.Ollywood cannot remain immune to this changing trend.”
Odia film music,which mostly banked on lilting melodies along with classical and semi-classical strains earlier, also had a brush with western pulse in the past. But it is more loud and clear now. If legendary singer and music director Akhaya Kumar had touched up the title of film ‘Jajabar’ (1975) with a tinge of rock and western chords, music director Abhijit Majumdar revved it up a little more in ‘Disco Diwane’ from ‘Tu Tha Moo Jauchi Russi” (2010). Umpteen numbers of Ollywood music directors and their songs can be cited to exemplify this aspect.
“Light music had been there in Ollywood. Late Akhaya Kumar later made it lighter by composing numerous creative and catchy wonders. He used cups and different instruments to create several masterpieces. The title song of film ‘Jajabar’ is one such gem. The deft tonal modulation padded with subtle strokes of rock and western beats has made it a marvel,” explains Abhijit.
The western tilt was spiced up more when the lyrics were laced with English words.“The title song of ‘Love Dot Com’ has amazing mix of drum beats, guitar strums, acoustics and other strains and pulses.Along with this, the lyrics laced with a string of English words went on to become a new turn-on for young music lovers,” says Prem.
Now several music directorsare more than eager to experiment with their numbers that blend classical or semi-classical strains with a streak of rock.“This type of heady musical cocktail is prominent in ‘Jeevena Trishna Hele’ from the film ‘Prem Weds Priya’. A bit of classical Odissi and a refrain of rock have been strung together to rustle up the masterpiece,” says Prem. “Sitar, piano, guitar, keyboard, drum and a number of classical and Western musical instruments have added zing to the song,” he adds.
With Ollywood warming up to the changing musical trend, several young bands like ‘The Abyss’ are toying with the idea of making a foray into Odia filmdom. “We are now working out on a project to make in-roads into Olllywood. It is now in its preliminary stage, which will take time to have a concrete shape,” says Niral Tirkey, the keyboard player of ‘The Abyss’.
Cuttack-based band ‘Vignanz’ has also signed up to score the music for an untitled Odia film. The film, which is likely to be released in December, has six songs and three of them will be padded with rock and western beats.
“Prior to this film, we had scored the music for a Hindi animation film ‘Shivalika’. It was completed last year and its post-production is now going on. After we wrap up things here, we are thinking to try our luck in Bollywood,” shares Durga, the vocalist of ‘Vignanz’.
“Variety is the spice of music and the Odia film industry proudly bears testimony to it. Bollywood might be bigger and better, but Ollywood is never down and dwarfish in the domain of innovative tracks and tunes,” boasts Sushant Patra, a 20-year-old college goer in Bhubaneswar.
However, not everybody is pleased with the synthesis of East and West. The “synthetic mix” mars the intrinsic beauty of both music genres, according to some critics. “The innate splendour of classical or semi-classical music is too lofty and lovely to be down and out with the feeble ingress of any other music. So Ollywood’s attempts and similar ones outside its periphery cannot ruin its prettiness. On the contrary, they are jarring to the ears,” argues Upendra Behera, a movie buff in Cuttack.