Ricky Kej’s music powers Papua New Guinea’s first Oscar entry

Calling it a proud second, Padma Shri awardee Kej says, “It’s step one on the Oscars race, however for me, the enjoyment lies in creating music rooted in historical past that dates again over 3,000 years. This collaboration between India and Papua New Guinea tells the story of Indian historians looking for an indigenous World Battle II veteran to uncover forgotten secrets and techniques.”

For the rating, Kej drew inspiration from tribal sounds. “It’s a really refined movie, so the music needed to be in sync with it. I studied uncooked tribal music, indigenous devices, jungle sounds, rhythms, archival recordings and pure sound-scapes to create it,” he says.

The movie’s forged contains actors Sine Boboro, John Sike, Ritabari Chakraborty and Prakash Naked in main roles.

The musician has an illustrious physique of labor — from Adrishya Jalakangal (2023), an anti-war Malayalam movie with Dr Biju, to Wild Karnataka (2020), a Nationwide Award-winning documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough and Hollywood’s MR-9: Do or Die (2023) the place actors Frank Grillo and Michael Jai White had been the antagonist whereas the protagonist was an Asian.

His upcoming challenge is Wild Tamil Nadu. His most up-to-date album, Gandhi: Mantras of Compassion, was created with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi and over 200 musicians from 40 international locations.

Kej admits he chooses movies provided that they’ve sturdy social influence. That’s why, regardless of his international work, he has but to compose for Bollywood: “I really like watching Hindi movies however I can’t do merchandise numbers or misogynistic songs. I’ve caught to music that represents me, and maybe that’s why I’ve received three Grammys. Nonetheless, I’d like to compose for Bollywood sometime.”