Bandish Bandits supervisor Akashdeep Sengupta on creating 17 tracks in 18 months

Akashdeep Sengupta

The first edition of Bandish Bandits was appreciated as much for its narrative as it was for the sonic soundscape crafted by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Why then would the makers choose to replace the trio with a bevy of young composers for the next edition? "It was solely in the interest of time," reveals music supervisor Akashdeep Sengupta, tasked with cohesively presenting the 17 tracks designed by musicians with different sensibilities. "The first season took three years to create. For the second season, we only had 18 months. Keeping that in mind, and the fact that in this edition we needed to highlight both traditional and modern music, we decided to champion new artistes from across India."

Script in hand, Sengupta was tasked with traversing the country and finding musicians who could serve as the musical backbone of the new season. "We needed individuals who could understand the tone of music that we wanted, and also make the album diverse. The script is diverse, and is influenced by Indian classical music, and western sounds. There's also a beautiful ghazal, as well as futuristic tracks that are modern. So, we cater to different tastes, and that assortment was also aligned with the script."

A still from the series

Accompanied by director Anand Tiwari, Sengupta says the listening sessions organised with each composer were instrumental in ascertaining that the songs, though diverse, didn't seem disparate. "We wanted to make the melody pan-Indian, in terms of its accessibility. We wanted to make it [appealing], not only for the elite listener, but also for the masses. We wanted to attract Gen-Z, who are also consumers of western and fusion classical music."

The drama, starring Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhry, will release on Prime Video on December 13.