Tried to step away from Bollywood-inspired music: Rangreza music composer Ahsan Bari

Bilal Ashraf, Goher Rasheed and Urwa Hocane-starrer Rangreza has already been making buzz with its colourful and impressive trailer and soul-stirring songs. The word came in recently that Ahsan Bari of Sounds of Kolachi is composing the background score of the film. 

Speaking exclusively with The Express Tribune, he shared his vision about how he sees (or hears) Rangreza. He has previously worked on the music of Jami Mahmood’s Moor and Anjum Shahzad’s Mah-e-Mir. But Rangreza, apart from being Hamza Akram Qawwal’s debut as a composer, marks Bari’s debut as well.

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“In my first film as a composer, I want to achieve certain things and explore,” said Bari. “Even though Rangreza is a mainstream film, I have tried to work introduce some non-traditional approach. Of course, our desi Pakistani style is there, but I have tried to step away from the common Bollywood-inspired approach.”

He said the background score of Rangreza will involve a unique ‘avant garde’ approach as well. “Modern music, and scoring, as we know it, is not about melodies as such, but more about tonal clusters which form the experience.”

As to whether his score complements the songs to create a complete and connected Rangreza soundscape, he said at times, it does. “Yes. Thematically, it has to complement the songs and at the same time, I have attempted to explore the soul of the film on my own. Look, the songs only show a certain emotion and are used for a few main characters. Score, on the other hand, has the responsibility to carry the film and highlight the emotion of characters, scenes and everything together.”

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For Bari, understanding the story is as important for a composer as the visuals. “You have to know the characters, their relationships and how they get along together or not, and everything that happens to be able to compose the background score. It has to tell a complete story.”

He said, while he is the composer, musicians such as Gul Muhammad (sarangi), Quaid Ahmed and Faisal Baig have played with him, the latter of whom he worked with in a few scenes. Asked to choose one dominant instrument in the Rangreza music, he picked Roli Seaboard.

“Most of it is Roli Seaboard. If I have to pick one, it’s the Seaboard. I have used a classical approach toward orchestration with it. The main theme that defines the film is inspired from post-Romantic era, so there’s that tonal music I talked about earlier. Plus, we have used specific sounds as well, apart from synth.”

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Lastly, Bari chose one sound, one instrument for the lead characters in the film, Ashraf, Rasheed and Hocane. For Ashraf, he obviously chose guitars. “Without spoiling the film and characters, Bilal is all about love. So guitars. Very ‘soundscapey’ guitars.”

For Rasheed, he said, “I’d go with very creepy sounds on the keyboard; he personifies hatred and creepy most of the time.” As for Hocane, he chose the flute.

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