Abhishek Ray handles mainstream commercial & intellectual cinema with equal ease.

How did you manage to capture the spirit of ‘Welcome Back’?

Composing the theme song for ‘Welcome Back’ was a huge challenge as the film is a pot pourri of various powerful characters coming together to create a comical extravaganza of epic proportions. So the song had to capture the soul of the tapori (John Abraham), the dangerous (Nana Patekar & Anil Kapoor), the glamorous (Shruti Hasan), the fabulous (Ankita & Dimple Kapadia), the ferocious (Naseeruddin Shah) etc. So I came up with this unusual funk – jazz kind of melody which captures the quirky comedy of the film as well as the mafia element.

Besides composing music, you have sung the song too?

The title song needed a unique & fresh vocal timbre. It also needed a brazen, experimental jazz – blues kind of singing. Owing to my background in the jazz piano & western classical, this kind of singing comes naturally and everybody loved it. I wanted to avoid the cliche of overused playback voices. Sometimes they take away from the uniqueness of the song.

Must have been a radical shift for you as a music composer from ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ to ‘Welcome Back’?

Unfortunately we live in times of mediocrity where one musician does only one repetitive kind of style and Bollywood is quick to recognize that and slot him. But the true quality of a film composer lies in versatility. He should have the knowledge & talent bank to capture the essence of the film and deliver a sound canvas accordingly. After composing & singing for national award winning films like ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ & ‘I Am Kalam’ and critically acclaimed films like ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’, ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’, I felt the inner need to drift away and exhibit the mainstream commercial side of my melodies.

And how did you make this transition?

The trick I think is to hold on and have the power to say no. I had many film offers after ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ but did not pick up most of them. I waited patiently till Anees Bhai heard me and was gracious & kind to pick me up for such a gigantic production. There are very few directors in the industry who deviate from the obvious and show the courage & insight to introduce a radical sound in an extravagant mainstream production with 9 stars.

So do you think star power works for music?

For film music, invariably yes…Many people may be evasive on this but experience has taught me to be candid. Apart from composing good music, it is important to release that music on a robust platform. How well the director uses your music and what visuals carry it forward makes a world of difference. A lot of beautiful songs don’t reach out to the target audience due to lack of promotions and visibility. I have faced that far too often.

What about non – film music?

I was brought into the industry by Gulzar Saheb. I began my career with a solo album with Gulzar Saheb called “Udaas Paani”. This experimental album was a musical saga of poetic moods and did exceedingly well. The success of “Udaas Paani” led us to collaborate on another eclectic album called ‘Raat Chand Aur Main”. After that there was no stopping and in the last decade, I have sung & composed the prestigious “Amazing India” series for music today, “Ritu” the magic of the 6 Indian seasons, “Raga Rendezvous” etc. Being a hard core musician at heart, albums give me extreme satisfaction but unfortunately the current market scenario is too Bollywood specific. Most albums today don’t get to release & reach out respectfully today.

What are your inspirations in music?

Mother Nature and a constantly nomadic free – spirited lifestyle have been my greatest inspirations. I am crazy about exploring untamed places, wilderness areas, old dilapidated structures, remote villages & sagas of unusual human lives etc. Such places have an uncanny aura & silver notes of melodies come running to my mind like droplets of rain. I am an active wildlife activist and I am also a Government bona fide tiger & leopard tracker. I run my own wildlife conservation project near Corbett National Park called sitabaniwildlifereserve.com.

What films are you looking forward to?

I have done some soul – stirring songs for a film called ‘Marriage Anniversary’ featuring Nana Patekar & Mahie Gill. I have also composed for ‘Saat Uchchakey’ produced by Neeraj Pandey & Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Yaara’. Apart from these which will release shortly, I am currently working on 4 interesting films with diverse subjects.