Special Notes:

8-page colour booklet.

Thomas Newman’s score for the film version of Deborah Moggach’s novel blends Indian and Western conventions for a punchy, upbeat score while paying small homages to the ‘mystical’ nature of India (or as evoked by Western filmmakers with a nostalgia for the culture’s inherently colourful exoticism).

The opening cut clearly sets up the immersion of ‘white into brown,’ as Indian instruments are linked with western rock rhythms, while more sedate cues – “The Chimes at Midnight” – gently carry Indian harmonics. Even with ethnic infusion, Newman’s style is easily identifiable: little rhythmic mobiles that loop and overlap, and the composer’s love of sounds which twang, rattle and rebound with fat bassy resonance (“Road to Jaipur”).

Percussive highlights include “Tuk Tuks” with its crazy fusion of Indian, jazz, and prog rock (all conveyed through a handful of instruments), or the slow unfurling of rhythms in cues like “Cricket Spell,” somewhat evoking Newman’s 1992 score for the TV movie Those Secrets (particularly the use of circular keyboard figures and sleek synth chords).

Sony’s album features a solid collection of cues, with lengths varying between a 1-4 mins. Newman’s approach tends to favour less is more, and while the shorter cues are clearly transitional and bridge material, they manage to form a fairly complete portrait of the cultural immersion within the story.

© 2012 Mark R. Hasan