Sameer Sharmas next will be Jugalbandi

Sameer Sharma of Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana fame would be situating his next film Jugalbandi in the world of Hindustani classical music. And the challenge for the director is to make the intricate complex and elitist world of ragas and gharanas accessible to the young. Sameer has taken on the challenge headlong. The raga-imbued music score of Jugalbandi, the story of two musicians the guru and shagird, would be done by Amit Trivedi.

Trivedi did the Punjab-flavoured score of Sameer Sharma's Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Says Sharma, "Nowhere in Luv Shuv… could you tell that the Punjabi music was by a Gujarati music composer. Amit Trivedi creates a sound that crosses borders. And he's very, very knowledgeable about all kinds of music. So he's my guy for the sound of Jugalbandi."

The question that may haunt some out there is, how interested would today's average youngsters be in classical Indian music?

Sameer Sharma, whose first-cousin Neema is married to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's son, has grown up amidst classical sounds. Sameer has an answer. "We make too many presumptions and suppositions about the tastes of youngsters. Shastriya sangeet is not the punjee (property) of the elite. We need to bring it to a contemporary platform without diluting it."

Sameer intends to mix traditional Hindustani classical sounds with western sounds.

"I don't want Jugalbandi to be restricted only to classical music. I'd also like to bring elements of jazz, etc. into the range of the film's theme. Amit Trivedi is well equipped for this," says Sameer.

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more