In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, Belgian music composer Simon Fransquet discusses music, how he dabbled into the Indian film industry, and his experience working for Lakadbaggha.
Amartya Smaran
Lakadbaggha starring Anshuman Jha, Ridhi Dogra, Milind Soman, and Paresh Pahuja hit the screens on January 13 and opened to a good response from the audience and critics alike. The film depicts the face-off between an Animal Lover Vigilante and Animal Abuser Kingpin.
Simon Fransquet, the Belgian music composer, worked on this sensitive action drama that won many hearts post its release. Simon won the Magritte Award in 2019 for When Arabs Danced in the best original score category. The Magritte Award is considered as the Oscar equivalent in Belgium and is the one of the most prestigious award ceremonies in the country. He is also well known for composing riveting music for When Arabs Danced(2018), Fadma(2020), The Pink Revolution(2020), and Megalomaniac(2021).
The Pioneer interacted with Simon Fransquet and he was more than happy to discuss music, how he dabbled into the Indian film industry, and his experience working for Lakadbaggha.
Simon was fascinated with the art of music ever since he was young and picked up his first guitar at the age of 12. In the initial years, he never restricted himself to one form of art, “I grew up in Belgium. I don’t come from a family of musicians but I always wanted to learn music as a child. So, I learnt how to play the classical guitar and I also learnt many other forms of art like graphics and painting in the art school in Belgium. After graduation, I chose to focus on music. I worked on thirty different feature movies in Europe and outside of Europe too.”
The composer spent a year studying classical guitar at the Royal Conservatory of Liege and spent another two years at Antwerpen’s Jazz Studio, where he majored in arrangements and composition. “I studied Jazz. So I love jazz music. I also studied classical, so I love classical guitar but I also used to listen to a lot of rock and metal bands when I was young. I love electronic music too. That is what I try to do in my music. I try mixing the elements of Jazz, metal, and classical. World music has influenced me a lot. I love travelling and listening to Latin music, Indian music, or whatever. In the old world, I love to discover new songs, instruments, and scales,” shared Simon.
Speaking of his musical influences, he shared, “ I have many in fact because I listen to different kinds of music. I listen to Jazz, classical music, and soundtracks, of course. In cinema, I am a huge fan of Gustavo Santaolalla. I am also a huge fan of the composer of Spirited Away, the Japanese composer. In fact, I have many influences.”
How did the virtuoso make a segue into the Indian Film Industry? A collaborative approach to work is always going to take artistes to the next level. One such collaboration with cinematographer Jean Marc Selva proved fruitful and opened doors for Simon in Bollywood.
“I was working on a feature film in Morocco and the director of photography– Jean Marc Selva and I became good friends,” said Simon. “He really loved my music. When he was working on Lakadbaggha in India, he introduced me to Anshuman Jha and this how started working in India.”
Asked Simon whether he spotted anything different about the way we work in India, he replied, “I think pretty much the same. When I work on film, I try to build and tell a story with my music. For example, when Anshuman came to Belgium, and we had locked down for two weeks in my studio and worked continuously. He is very efficient and during the process we talked about the music and the colors of the movie. I showed him many instruments and we finally picked the right ones for the movie and I was very impressed by his work ethic.”
The When Arabs Danced composer expressed that he had a wonderful time working for Lakadbaggha which was released last month, “It was amazing and I didn’t score a lot for action movies. I scored for non-action movies. So, it was very exciting to compose to the rhythm of the fights. All the fights in Lakadbaggha are choreographed so well and I was pretty excited to compose. They wanted me to put my sensibilities into this film because it a mix of drama and action with a very sensitive subject about dogs and everything. This is why Anshuman came to me and asked me to score.”
Awards are a testament to one’s quality of work. Although some aritistes don’t look at awards as a validation to their work, Simon Fransquet considers winning the Magritte Award for When Arabs Danced as a special moment, “It was one of my biggest moments. It is the Belgian Oscar and that’s the biggest prize in Beligan, so, it was an amazing moment for me to win it in my own country for a Belgian movie.”
The Megalomaniac composer informed The Pioneer that 2023 is going to be a busy year for him. He signed of by saying, “I have many feature films in Europe and North Africa for 2023. I am working on another project directed by Anshuman Jha called Lord Curzon Ki Haveli and I have several other movies in Armenia, Indonesia and of course, in Belgium.”
