In 1929, German filmmaker Franz Osten made an Indian silent film, Prapancha Pash (A Throw of Dice). Decades later, you, a British-born music maker, have made music for the period classic. Tell us about the experience.About two years ago, the British Film Institute approached me to bring this 1929 silent black and white film back to life by providing an original orchestral score. I wrote a 60-minute symphony, which the London Symphony Orchestra recorded. I have scored for almost 40 films now, but this was special as it allowed me to look at India from a distance. It was an opportunity to marry orchestral sensibilities with an epic classic. It’s a beautiful film– a cross between Chaplin, Cecil B de Mille, and classic Bollywood. The film’s cast and its producer, Himansu Rai (who also plays the evil king), are Indian, but Franz Osten, the film’s director, was from Germany. Hence the film presents a Western perspective of India, which made me mix Indian and Western musical styles.  

But you dislike words like fusion and world music.I don’t like the word fusion because its premise is that everything is separate. Music doesn’t have the prejudices that people and politicians have. It binds rather than divides. From an individual’s perspective, it depends on how much knowledge you have. Playing different types of music is about increasing your knowledge of music and not fusing tunes. My objection to the term world music stems from its unfairness. Why isn’t all music called world music? Music stores in the West use it to marginalise the category vis-à-vis rock and pop, which creates an element of apartheid in record shops.  

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