After Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002), Zakir Hussain returns to composing music in films with For Real directed by Sona Jain. The legendary tabla maestro is busy throughout the year with live concerts all over the world.
He says, “Nothing really stops me. It’s just that I am not in one place long enough for someone to catch me and say can you compose music for my film. Say, if you do a Bollywood film with a specific banner, you got to do be there for 3 weeks with the director to finalise the songs. Then you got to get lyrics written, record the song and each song recording takes 6-7 days. So if there are 7-8 songs, it takes a lot of time. In that period, I do 50 concerts.”
Sona Jain must have been lucky to able to catch Zakir and convince him to compose music for For Real. “Sona got in touch with my daughter, who is actually a producer in Los Angeles. So Sona told me about the script and somehow I felt I should say yes. So, it was all her energy and persona that came through. I haven’t yet signed a contract. I just did it.”
For Real is a story of a six-year-old girl who witnesses a family crisis. The ensuing depression evident in her parents causes a change reaction in the child's mind, making her withdraw into a fantasy world where she believes her real mother has been sent to the Orion Galaxy and the mother at home is really an Alien.
After hearing the script, Zakir was immensely moved by the characters. He says, “This story is close to my heart. I saw my father travelling a lot. I even wrote a piece which was recorded by John McLaughlin, Remember Shakti, No Maa No Paa. Meaning Papa is always gone and it’s Mama who is taking care of the kids. In this film, it’s the Papa who is taking care of the kids and Mama is away on concerts.”
When asked if he is able to spend quality time with his family, he confides, “There are sacrifices to be made if you want to achieve something. If you want to live a life of a great musician, you have to miss you kids and cry alone in the middle of the night in hotel rooms. Such things do happen.”
Zakir has a busy year ahead. He says, “I have been commissioned to write a symphony orchestra in America. There is this 100 year old symphonic piece, done by a Russian composer called Schwantner’s. And that’s the first musical of 1001 nights of Scheherazade. So this is the 100th year and they are redoing the ballet. And for some reason they don’t want to use the old Schwantner’s music. They have asked me to do a new song. And it will be premiered in Monte Carlo in Monica. Then I have a couple of concerts.”
For Real is slated for release on September 17. Sarita Chowdhury best known for her roles in Mississipi Masala and Kama Sutra plays a pivotal role in the film.
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