‘I report to the director and the script’: Shashwat SachdevJan 27 (AZINS) For Shashwat Sachdev, there are three things that matter the most when he’s composing music for a movie. “First, it’s what the director wants from me, secondly, what I want to bring to the table and third, what the film needs. I rarely think about what the audience wants,” the musician says candidly.

While he’s never done a remix or a reprised version of a song, Shashwat says he’s neither in favour nor against the trend. It all goes back to the above-mentioned criteria. “I think every director wants to create something new. The filmmakers I have worked with till now, have all had evolved tastes,” says the artiste, who has so far composed music for Phillauri, Veere Di Wedding and the recently released Uri: The Surgical Strike. The musician is of the opinion that cinema is a director’s medium. “Eventually, you are reporting to a film, a script and director and I can only fulfill the expectations and needs of my director,” he explains. The only choice he can make as a composer, Shashwat says, is whether he wants to work with the particular filmmaker or not. “That’s a master choice. You can choose if you want to associate with that project or not. When you put your faith in that person, then the only thing you can do is fulfill his requirements,” he elaborates.

He adds that a remix or a reprise depends on the script’s demand as well. “The third part is where I come in. Now, I started learning Hindustani classical music when I was four-years-old. I learnt Western classical piano as well. So, there is an understanding of both,” the musician adds. Giving an instance of Challa in Uri, Shashwat tells us that it’s actually a Punjabi folk song which is sung for a newborn baby in the family. “So, my take on Challa was to attempt to make it about this child, who has now grown up and is ready to fight and die for his country. It’s a song of birth, but in the film, it’s a song of death. It was a completely fresh take on the whole philosophy of the folk song. So, for me that’s more interesting as an artiste. It’s more humbling when you find something that didn’t exist before,” he opines.