STRINGING ALONG TO SUCCESS

Composer Simon Fransquet, who recently worked on his first Hindi film, wants his music to travel the world

- PUJA AWASTHI

The music was not just around Simon Fransquet. It lived in him. At 12, Fransquet, born in the Belgian city of Liège, started playing the guitar at home, before moving on to learn it in some of the country’s best institutes.

His mother was a housekeeper, his father a railroad worker. Life was hard, but at home, there was always music playing in the background. “I grew up in a very musical environment,” says Fransquet, who was recently in India for his maiden Hindi film Lakadbaggha, which will release on January 13 (Amazon Prime).

Besides experiencing the excitement of working in a country he had never visited, Fransquet was also attracted to the Victor Mukherjee directorial on another level. It appealed to his love for animals, a love he describes as “very important for humans”. It was also the first time he was composing for an action thriller.

Fransquet’s assignment was to set to music the poem ‘Purano Sei Diner Kotha’ by Rabindranath Tagore. In his discovery of Tagore, Fransquet found “a rare sweetness and beauty”. And, his understanding of the poem? “It’s about nostalgia, how we remember old times and how we try to relive the moment once again,” he says.