Abhishek Chaubey: I was very hard-nosed about having songs in films
Director Abhishek Chaubey makes films that have lead characters with strong musical ties but the director reveals that in his initial days, he was quite adamant about not having songs in films, something that gradually went away. He says, "When I started out I was very hard-nosed about it. I mean I came to Mumbai from Delhi after working with Film Societies and watching movies in French and German centres. I would be like, why should films have songs and all that? What is all this crap? But you come and have to adjust to a new environment and you have to be mature about it. You have to look at how you can create your own space here. While it's not a must but music is a very important part of our films."
The director says that it was the experience of working with Vishal Bhardwaj that changed his stance on songs in films. He says, "I have worked with Vishal Bhardwaj for a decade. And he, before anything else is a musician. Music is a foregone conclusion in his films. I mean, even 'Talvar' has songs. Keeping all those things in mind I have been honing my skills in using songs in films. I have no plans of being an obscure filmmaker; I want to go out and do it in the mainstream and connect with people. But not by losing myself in the process. Maybe one day if I make a courtroom drama I will not use music."
Abhishek says that he still finds it uncomfortable for his characters to break into song and dance, which is why he gives them some association with music to make the transition more natural. "It helps if one of your characters is connected to music because it gives you the excuse to do that," he says.
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