How Zubeen Garg’s free score for student film won him National Award in 2009
The award was for Echoes of Silence, a short diploma film by Assam-born filmmaker Reema Borah during her days at FTII, Pune.
A file image of Zubeen Garg. (Photo: 'X'/@utpal91)
Guwahati, Oct 8: Few know that the late legendary musician Zubeen Garg, who won the 2009 National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction, never charged a single rupee for the project that earned him the honour.
The award was for Echoes of Silence, a short diploma film by Assam-born filmmaker Reema Borah during her days at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.
Recalling the experience, Borah said, “It was in 2006 when I was desperately looking for a musician to compose the background score for my film. I dreamt of approaching Zubeenda, but I didn’t have the funds to hire such a renowned artiste. Still, I decided to try, and with the help of my junior Saurabh Dutta, I went to meet him at his Mumbai residence.”
To her surprise, Zubeen not only welcomed Borah and her team – sound engineer Vishakha Bokil and Dutta – with warmth but also agreed to do the project free of cost.
“Music direction in a film is a tough job, but Zubeenda crafted it beautifully,” Borah recalled.
Borah also recalled how Zubeen once took her along to a felicitation programme in Mumbai after receiving the national award and introduced her to the gathering.
Echoes of Silence explores the tender bond between a mother and daughter, with the story set in Tura and Shillong and shot in Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. The dialogues are in English and Khasi.
Borah, whose film Anunaad: The Resonance won the Rajat Kamal for Best Film on Social Issues, fondly remembered Zubeen’s guidance during their first meeting.
“He advised me to listen to Country Music, Jazz, Blues, and Reggae, and to read widely to enrich my creativity. He even spoke about his dream of making a film on Medini Chowdhury’s novel Ferengadao, based on the life of Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha. Unfortunately, that dream remained unfulfilled,” she said.
Reema Borah also wrote a scene for her film Noi, where the main protagonist meets Zubeen Garg. But at the last moment, the scene was excluded from the script due to fund crunch.
In 2018, when Borah organized the Biswanath Film Festival, Zubeen graced the inaugural session without taking any fee. “I had a close bond with Zubeenda. His humility and generosity touched everyone who knew him. He will forever live in our hearts through his music and his kindness,” she added.