Reema Kagti: Didn’t want visuals to lead music

Be it Talaash, Gully Boy or Made In Heaven music has played an integral part of Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti films. Talking about her love for music, Reema tells us, “The background music, songs to the sound – you cannot take the focus away from music in movies. When you watch a film, 60 per cent is the sound and 40 per cent are the visuals. So, music is terribly important. Depending on the script and the content of your web show or films finding that musical expression is challenging.” Reema personally enjoys all kinds of music and it all depends on her mood. She shares, “I listen to a range of music from western classical, Hindustani, 80s… I also like jazz, and even the Hindi film songs. When I am in my car my playlist has my own curated covers.” Recently, Zoya and Reema, under their music label in collaboration with musician Ankur Tewari, unveiled its debut album City Sessions. The album is a singer-songwriter initiative that brings artists together in an immersive studio setting. In an age defined by digital shortcuts and AI-generated content, the album embraces an analogue, collaborative approach to music creation. “We wanted to bring back the whole organic experience. It’s the concept of playing music live,” says Zoya. The debut City Sessions album comprises six original tracks by independent artists Neel Adhikari, Pushan Kripalani (Slight Diversion), and Arijit Datta (Airport). About the initiative, Ankur said, “In today's AI driven world, with City Sessions we wanted to revisit a more personal & collaborative way of creating music. We believe that this organic process allows for a genuine connection, as singer songwriters are the storytellers of our generation.”