From ‘Tera Te Mera’ to ‘3 Bahadur’

Shiraz Uppal talks about his first time producing music for an animated feature

LAHORE: In this day and age, the soundtrack and score of a movie play a seminal role in its commercial success. At the press preview of the first three minutes of 3 Bahadur on Wednesday, the second title track of their film Raunaqein was also unveiled. The song has been produced and sung by seasoned musician Shiraz Uppal and penned by Shakeel Sohail.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Uppal talked about the creative process involved in creating the score for an animated feature. Prior to 3 Bahadur, the singer had never composed a song for a movie, whose characters he was not familiar with. “I was worried initially because I couldn’t relate to these characters and that’s how I create my music,” Uppal said. The team at 3 Bahadur then sent scenes from the film to him for inspiration, and that’s how he crafted the tracks. Uppal is happy about the creative freedom allowed to both parties during the making of the songs and animation respectively. “Sharmeen gave full creative freedom to me, so that I could come up to her expectations and vice-versa. We didn’t step into each other’s domains.” He also performed a live rendition of Raunaqein; a song that perfectly fits into the scene of a desi carnival happening.

Jargeel Seja, CEO of ARY Digital, commented, “Animation is an unknown territory in Pakistan but we are now creating an opening for more animated film markets in the country.” 3 Bahadur is finally providing local heroes and role models for children to aspire to. Chinoy ended the conference by saying,  “The movie portrays that change will not come from the outside; we have to help ourselves and that’s what this country needs to understand.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th,  2015.

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