Singer Kavita Seth opens up about her experience while working in a Mira Nair movie, A Suitable Boy. “She knows what she wants, and also knows how to get that from the artiste she is working with,” says Seth. The singer has composed and furnished the ghazals for Tabu’s character.
According to Mid-Day, Kavita says “For this show, Mira wanted ghazals from the 1950s, and even curated a list of ghazals of Ameer Minai and Mirza Ghalib, for me to compose. On one occasion, she said she wasn’t excited about one of the ghazals we were set to record. Within 30 minutes, we worked on it again and made it right. So, it was an educational experience. Artistes like myself become aware of our abilities [when working with her].”
She talked about how Tabu used to visit her in the recording studio to learn more about the ghazal and work her way through the character of Saeeda Begum. She said, “Once, Mira ji asked me to send videos of me singing so that Tabu could observe me. I have watched two episodes of the show, and, on occasions, I can point to moments when she has [mimicked] me.”
A Suitable Boy is one of those movies that has music as an essence to it. Seth added how someone like Mira Nair can make a movie that could bring together a musical story, that other filmmakers are afraid to try their hand on. She ended it with, “The music doesn’t overpower the show, and is not underplayed either. Based on reactions from the UK [where it first aired], I have been told that viewers look forward to Tabu’s appearance, and rendition of a new ghazal.”
