“Tarla has been my most special project as a composer so far” – Nilotpal Bora

In a very short span of time, Nilotpal Bora has made a name for himself by composing songs and/or background score for several notable shows and films released on streaming platforms. The composer – singer, who hails from the city of Jorhat in Assam, has to his credit shows like ‘TVF’s Aspirants’, ‘Tripling Season 2’, ‘Yeh Meri Family’ and ‘Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd’. ‘Shaabash’, the song he had composed for the Netflix original film ‘Jaadugar’, was selected as the anthem for Indian athletes at the Commonwealth Games last year.

Nilotpal has put together the background score and composed two songs for the Huma Qureshi – Sharib Hashmi starrer ‘Tarla’ which will start streaming on Zee5 from July 7.

How did you get on board for ‘Tarla’?

Piyush Gupta, the director of the film, had heard the songs I had composed for the TVF web-series ‘Saas Bahu Aur Achaar Pvt Ltd’ and liked them. He called me and briefed me about the film. He wanted me to do the background score and a couple of songs for the film. Based on the kind of music I had done earlier, he thought I would be able to do create the right musical landscape for the film.

I loved the script and was very happy to be a part of it. Apart from doing the background score, I have composed, arranged and sung a wedding song for the film called ‘Rang Khile’. It has been written by Hussain Haidry. I have also produced a song called ‘Papa Why’ which is in the form of a poem and has been written by Shreyas Jain. Actually, the structure of the song is quite unique. It is somewhere between a song and a poem.

One of the songs in ‘Tarla’ has been written by Hussain Haidry. You have had a long-standing association with him.

Yes! ‘Dhaaga’ from ‘Yeh Hai Meri Family Season 1’ was my first Hindi song. It was the first time Hussain and I worked together. At that time, Hussain was working as an in-house writer at TVF. I didn’t know any lyricist in Mumbai. Sameer Saxena sir got me connected me with Hussain and he wrote the song. We have worked together on a bunch of projects since then.  

How was the process of putting together the background score of ‘Tarla’?

It was very easy as the film has a very engaging storyline and the performances are excellent. Piyush had a very clear vision and gave some really good inputs when we were creating the background score. He is a perfectionist and was very precise with his instructions. I worked towards creating a background score that would complement the narrative of the film and help in taking it forward.

‘Tarla’ has been my most special project as a composer so far. One of the highlights of the film is the beautiful relationship between the husband and the wife. When we talk about women empowerment, we ignore the role of a housewife. A lot of people, in fact, look down upon housewives. Being a housewife is a full-time job. It’s high time we acknowledge the contribution made to a household by them. The film will help in bringing about a shift in this mindset.

The film has been produced by heavyweights like Ronnie Screwvala, Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.

I had some wonderful interactions with Nitesh sir. When I shared the music pieces I had created for the film, he approved them at one go. He also sent me a very encouraging message appreciating my work on the soundtrack.

What are you doing next?

Since the last few weeks, I was busy with ‘Tarla’ and composing and recording some singles. I am about to start working on a series soon. I started performing live a while back. In the North-East, people have known me as an independent artist for a while. So, I was mostly performing there with my band. However, we have started performing in other parts of the country as well. I recently performed in a music festival called Musicathon in Himachal Pradesh. I will be releasing my first Hindi single soon. It has been written by Hussain Haidry. I am looking forward to see how the audience reacts to it.