The young Indie Pop singer and composer revisits Charlie Chaplin and Tom and Jerry and reveals his secret of making music.}
Ruhfikra aka Rohit Sharma, an independent composer, and Indie Pop artist, known for hit singles like ‘Ruhfikra’ and ‘Khab Tera’ believes that music should be a counterpoint of sorrow and grace, to express sentiment.
He refers to the work of legendary Charlie Chaplin and makes a bold statement: “It may seem strange to say that one of the world’s most well-known entertainers is underrated. But Charlie Chaplin is. Not necessarily as a comedian, actor or director, but as a composer.”
“The advent of sound might have meant the end of silent movies that had made Chaplin a star, but it gave him the chance to compose his own scores. And what scores they are, full of lovely and catchy tunes, the exquisite timing and contrasts that make his comedy so moving, brilliant use of motifs, and a wide range of magpie inspirations that provide rich variation.” He adds further.
Hailing from Punjab, India, and establishing a musical career without any godfather in the industry, Rufikra feels that language is not a barrier when it comes to binding the new audiences with music. He shares, “I consider myself fortunate to have the privilege to watch Charlie Chaplin and the famous cartoon show Tom and Jerry for hours during my childhood days. It had big influence on my art. I was inspired to see how they narrate the story with music without involving any words and hence I try to compose elegant and romantic music to frame my films in contrast to the tramp character.”
Speaking on the art of storytelling through music, he refers to Tom and Jerry and says, “In Tom and Jerry, both the characters do not use words to tell the story or express any of their feelings. Press play and watch it. This cartoon actually relies a lot on background music to explain the story. They use a louder sound when Tom is walking and a softer and more animated sound effect when Jerry is walking. This is related to their size obviously. The soundtrack will alter to reflect the character’s mood, whether they are pleased, sad, afraid, angry, or shocked.”
When asked about his further release ahead, he informed that he is currently banking a lot of singles for video production work and the next single single ‘Safar Yeh Suhana’ is expected to drop next month. He is also working on a track with a popular Punjabi musical artist expected to drop this year too.