'ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT' COMPOSER TOPSHE TALKS SCORING AND SONGS

Kolkata singer-songwriter on working with director Payal Kapadia, creating the evocative closing track Imagined Light' and enlisting rapper Vedan and singer-songwriter Haniya Nafisa on the song Kisses In The Clouds'

- ANURAG TAGAT

Among the most critically acclaimed Indian films out this year, director Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light has music composed by Kolkata singer-songwriter Topshe, including a recently released song called "Kisses In The Clouds" featuring Kerala rapper Vedan, singer-songwriter Haniya Nafisa and lyricist Anvar Ali.

Over a Zoom call after the release of the song from the Cannes Grand Prix-winning film (and before All We Imagine As Light earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film), Topshe says it's "been a bit surreal so far" in terms of the reception for his music. "It's getting a lot of love, a lot of attention and I'm grateful for that," he adds.

A singer-songwriter who has previously released R&B and folk-informed songs like "Sad Boys" in 2020 and "Meant To Be" in 2019, Topshe aka Dhritiman Das had known filmmaker Kapadia for more than a decade and contributed music for her 2021 documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing. He says he knew about All We Imagine As Light from "a long time ago" but had to hard-sell his music composing skills for the project since other names were in contention to be picked.

Topshe with his synth, guitar and production skills made a few small pieces of music even before filming began, based off the script. "I would just send three pieces of music one month, then three pieces another month... and say, 'Hey, if you want to use this, you can try it.' I think that hard-selling over a few months finally convinced them," he says.