Background score in films- it matters !!

I accidentally pressed the mute button! And the TV went silent........ only action, no sound......and it was then that I realized what sound meant to a film and even more what background score meant…It brought back a memory of a film with the most unusual background score. Kahte Hain Mujhko Raja, a 1975 film with Biswajeet as the hero, fighting Shatrughan Sinha the villain. Those were the days when the words Dhishoom & Dhishkyaun a punching sound effect was used in fight scenes and the sounds were clearly dubbed by a human.  However in this film the filmmaker decided to get unique. After all Dhishoom, is a sound when you hit with your hands, so he thought what should be the sound effect if you are kicking the villain with your shoes…and so there goes Biswajeet to the man-made sound of “Boot, boot” ……and goes on to alternate between Dhishoom and Boot Boot. I almost collapsed in my seat laughing. No, I am not lying cause I never ever forgot this!!!

Like a good comedy, I do believe that timing is everything. It is the background score that makes you ready to feel and anticipate what we can't see yet and then our imagination begins to take flight and makes up the rest. The score send chills down the spine making the hair stand on end as the different sounds, like that of thunder, a creaking chair, or footsteps on wooden staircase, which of course by themselves are not frightful but when combined with these effects manipulates the mind to anticipate and maximize the terror unfolding on screen. This in itself then becomes another ball game.

Those were the days when sounds of walking down a staircase for example, were made by people stomping their feet or coconut shells cut in half and stuffed with padding used to make horse hoof noises in a recording studio. Then there also came Hitchcock's deadly film “Psycho” that changed the sound of horror music, and the famous stabbing shower scene became a must in every horror film made in Bollywood. I remember one such funny shower scene from Purani Haveli or one maybe its another Ramsay Bros film (I forget the name but the not the scene) which I must share. Of course its a shower scene where the deadly half-cut hand comes crawling out of the batroom drain to the clanging of the drain cover, crawling across the floor, until it strangles the bathing beauty (ha ha ha)!!! With every moving scene background score became relevant whether it was the traffic noise, a running train, a screeching car, slamming of doors, swishing of curtains, gunshots,  rain, thunder, lightning especially those for the fight and rape scene so Bollywood.  Sholay is perhaps the best film to understand background score. How can one forget that outstanding scene where Gabbar kills the family and Master Raju stands turned to stone with the swing swinging to and fro as Gabbar rides his horse downhill with the clip clop sound creating  a sense of one actually being there and feeling the pressure and fear? Or when glass bottles are broken for Basanti to dance on or the very first scene when the train pulls into the station? Without these crucial background noises, our films would feel unnaturally quiet and feeling-less. And who can forget that piano, a permanent fixture in the haveli, playing ominous tunes in the dead of night or the tinkling sound of the chandeliers swaying back and forth. Who can forget the empty swing of the film Mahal or the white saree-woman walking around the haveli with candelabra in the hand to deadly background scores or songs. On the other hand, there was also the sweetness of the flute? Remember Rajendra Kumar in Geet or Jackie Shroff's Hero, where the flute is suggestive of the love between him and the heroine.

I for one always felt that one of the major reasons for the failure of any film was ineffective background music. I for one, yes, pay complete attention and appreciate the sounds in film and am always aware when the soundtrack fails the scene and never forget it either…… but other film-goers I am sure, most likely, don’t even notice and probably not care either. If they did they would realize that it plays a huge role in creating the entire ambiance of the films. It is the soul of the film and carries the story ahead and merges with the story. Just imagine scenes without ambiance sound. Take a few of films for example. Can you imagine Dhoom without its dhoom dhoom and bikes roaring sounds or even Jaws stalking the waters without that deadly music build-up or imagine Sholay’s scene between Amitabh & Jaya without the mouth-organ playing or the very silence before AK Hangal says “itna sanaata kyon hai bhai”. Most filmmakers know this and use it to their advantage to heighten drama.

Action and  emotions are entwined and when the score is used skillfully it can cover up for a lot in a film, but some of the film makers just ignore that aspect using ready made ghise-pitte tracks used for hundred years or totally mismatching the scenes........ and yes as I said before, I do notice.  If film makers realize that there are more like me out there paying attention to the background score of every scene then maybe, just maybe, they would treat  background music with a bit more of seriousness for the entire film. After all the background music can make or break the best of a film if not used effectively in a film.