Nested for two weeks at a Panchgani home, the crew members of Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha immersed themselves into telling the tale of “the extraordinary journey of an ordinary man”. The brief given to score composer Tanuj Tiku — who has films like Kaabil, Chhichhore and Ajeeb Daastaans on his resume — was simple.  “It was a slice-of-life film. Aamir sir likes Panchgani, which is why we worked there with a bunch of musicians. We played live, jammed together, and created the thematic music there. Within two weeks, all the thematic material and character motifs were readied,” says Tiku, further crediting Khan and director Advait Chandan for fostering an atmosphere of creativity.

“The culture at [Aamir’s production house], and Advait’s relationship with him, is noteworthy. There is always a plan in place, but the process is organic. We watched the film, and immediately decided to jump into the score composition. My team and I began to ideate, and we [primarily used] the violin, piano, and guitar. We’d perform the themes to him live, and the first few days were simply spent in sampling these [chunks], listening to music and creating different colour palettes for different characters and themes, based on the brief.”