After doing the scores for three Malayalam films and one Telugu film last year, composer Jakes Bejoy is busy at work with the score of his next Malayalam film, Tovino Thomas’ Kalki. The film will see the actor playing the role of a sub-inspector. It’s Tovino’s first full-fledged ‘mass’ character. Naturally, the soundtrack is expected to have a similar quality. Jakes promises a goosebump-inducing soundtrack that’s different from the typical commercial scores.
“Kalki is being designed as a pure commercial film intended to draw the crowds. Tovino has never done a full-fledged ‘mass’ role before. And when it comes to the music, the audience has an expectation of what the score is supposed to sound like. But we are trying to do something above that. It will be heavy on synth along with some electronic kuthu. I’m currently working on it. It will be different from my work in Ranam and Swathandryam Ardharathriyil,” he says.
A total of three tracks will be in the film and Jakes will be completing the soundtrack before the shoot begins. The makers will be cutting the footage to Jakes’ music as opposed to him waiting for the footage to be ready. The composer tells us he has already been given a good idea of how the film is supposed to sound by director Praveen Prabharam. “Praveen has a clear vision of how the film should look and sound. Everything from the mood of the scene to the soundscape to the character’s mannerisms — he knows exactly what he wants.”
Jakes has been getting more attention after his applause-worthy work in Ranam. Asked about his experience on Ranam, he says, “It was so liberating. I had the freedom to try out different things. It’s how I would like to work. I’m grateful for an opportunity like that. Usually, there are so many limitations because we are trying so hard to please a certain section of the audience. I never felt any of that with Ranam. I wasn’t bothered about people commenting on the inclusion of rap and whatnot. I just went ahead and did it because I felt the score demanded all those things. And it was a Prithviraj film too.”
The composer is very excited about working on Kalki because the team has afforded him a similar kind of freedom. “I’m working with a cool team. Some of them are my close friends. I love working with people whose thoughts sync perfectly with mine. It’s very fulfilling when everyone on the team is working closely with each other.”
Kalki is produced by Prasobh Krishna and Suvin Varkey under the banner of Little Big Films. Praveen and Sujin Sujathan have co-written the screenplay. Theevandi-cinematographer Gautham Sankar will be cranking the camera.