'Freddy' composer Clinton Cerejo on sweet notes that sting

Clinton Cerejo

Different composers can create very distinct musical palettes for a film of this nature," Clinton Cerejo says while responding to our question on the changing trends in score- composition for psychological thrillers. He discusses how Thomas Newman's play with "organic elements to create moods" in American Beauty, differs from the use of synths in The Social Network, when making his case. "Sonically, they are significantly different, even though they try to achieve the same objective." It is eventually the discussion with the film's director that, he believes, sets the scene for a composer.

"You can capture emotions if you decipher the crux of what [the film should highlight]," says Cerejo, who created the score of Kartik Aaryan's Freddy, a psychological thriller that follows a dentist who becomes unhinged after being short-changed in love. "Shashanka Ghosh wanted to outline this character of a doctor. I wanted to use the ukulele to create a simple melody to serve as the thematic idea. We wanted to keep repeating it because [we wanted him to come across as] someone who is not multi-layered. In a psychological thriller, the music sets the listener up for something that is intriguing - the listener should feel that there is something going on in the horizon," says Cerejo, highlighting that Newman's film, and Eyes Wide Shut were two projects whose scores have stayed with him.

Aaryan plays a dentist who becomes unhinged

"[In Eyes Wide Shut], there are two base notes that are repeated over and over again in the whole film, and it has a great effect. The hammering of that piano theme is what stays with the audience. In this film, the theme had a sense of sweetness. And as the film progresses, a watcher is compelled to believe something [untoward] is about to happen."

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Trends in score composition for psychological thrillers have seen a departure from the past when "big drums" were employed for the making of music in Bond films, says Cerejo. "Nowadays, textural writing is seen in films and in TV shows as well. For Freddy, we kept things organic to depict this simple guy in an urban world. I used elements like orchestral elements and guitars. Then, for sections, we switched to other textures to make it sound modern."

He compliments Aaryan for switching gears from comic and romantic roles to pulling off the part of the mentally affected Freddy. "You see him as the introverted guy with [signs of] dyslexia. It was challenging for me because I wanted the music to enhance that aspect of his personality."