It’s time for something to cheer about as Indian firm Salvage Audio Collective is in the news for all good reasons. The team in collaboration with Indian-American composer Karsh Kale Karsh Kale won the award for Best Original Music at the 14th Asian Film Awards for Gully Boy in a recent award ceremony. The digital awards presentation was aligned with the Busan International Film Festival, and eminent filmmakers and film professionals around the world participated to support the winner(s) of each category. The Mumbai-based collective comprises of Rohan Rajadhyaksha, Viraaj Saxena, Sohrab Nicholson, Jehangir Jehangir, Rohan Ramanna and Stuart DaCosta.
Eclectic and diverse, the music from Gully Boy infuses the cinematic landscape with the soul of Mumbai, and pays homage to India’s exploding Hip Hop culture. Speaking about this, Stuart DaCosta says, “The score’s gritty realism can be traced to the Collective’s origins in the indie music scene. Most of us started out playing in bands, and continue to do so.” To which, his co-artist Viraaj Saxena adds, “We were naturally drawn to the story of Gully Boy, and the tale of a young man fighting against the odds to chase his dream is something we all deeply related with.”
Directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Films, the film was released last year on February 14, 2019. It began its record-breaking run at the 65th Filmfare Awards, notching up 13 wins. It was also India’s official entry for the 92nd Academy Awards. Talking about the recent recognition, Jehangir Jehangir mentions “Working with a director like Zoya, who was very clear about what she wanted, really helped. It was also reassuring to see her confidence in us, considering that this was our first time working together.”
Officially formed in 2017, the partnership of composers, music producers, and multi-instrumentalists from Mumbai, the full-service audio solutions firm excels in creating critically and commercially acclaimed feature films like Gully Boy and Yeh Ballet, to ad films for international brands and popular web series with OTT platforms like Netflix and Disney Hotstar. To keep up the pace, Rohan Rajadhakshya of Salvage Audio Collective wants to forward to continuing this dialogue with the global film and music community. While his co-founder Rohan Ramanna concludes, “Such prestigious international recognition not only celebrates Indian cinema but also opens doors to a wider and younger range of talent in the country.”
Congratulations to the team of talented artists, and we hope to see more accolades in future. XX
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