''PLEASE DON'T GIVE US THE FILM AT THE LAST MINUTE''

Music director Imman had recently brought out a very unique problem regarding the BGM of his film Vetrivel. We talked to the music composer to find out the details.

“We are all tuned into the idea of new films being found in the net for downloading. But a friend of mine introduced me to a unique problem. I saw Vetrivel with a rough BGM track and was shocked.

Earlier on, a film will be sent for Censor certification after it is completed in all aspects. But these days, to be more precise, for the past 1-1.5 years, once the edit is locked, the film is immediately sent for Censors. This is with the idea that it can be released in a week’s time while the rest of the work will go on simultaneously. A rough track will be added by the editors and is sent to the censors. We will be parallelly working on the BGM and other features to keep the film ready for release.

A few directors like Prabhu Solomon, Suseenthiran and Shakthi Sounderrajan follow the old practice of completing all the work before sending to Censors. The majority of the filmmakers apply for censors once the edit is locked.

Coming to this practice, I am not even saying this is wrong as it is happening amongst us but this copy should not go out. I saw Vetrivel with the rough BGM track. My question here is how this copy went out? A copy that has been specially done for Censors, how is it getting leaked? You will not find this copy in FMS theatrical releases but in FMS home DVDs”.

Imman also brings out the problems that are being faced by the music composers. He says, “A film has to be ready before 10-12 days of its announced release date for FMS as it has to complete the Censor formalities in the respective countries.  But we are getting the film at the last minute only, for background score. In my case, it takes around 20-25 days to complete scoring for a film. I would say that after the edit is completed, there should at least be 2-3 months time given for post production. But sadly that practice is not there now. There is a mentality that once the shoot is over, the film can be released in a month’s time.

Of course, I do understand the producer’s financial issues. I only seek for a practical and a realistic time for post production work.  Adequate time is not being given to sound mixers and sound designers. But critics very casually write as ‘BGM is noisy’. If you don’t give these people the necessary time, how can you control the sound? BGM can’t be noisy. You will find only FX or the film in toto, loud.  There are such intricate features that should come to the foreground”.

Jyothsna Bhavanishankar

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