How Emmy Nominated Siddhartha Khosla Blended American Saga With Indian Raga
Words by Divya Goyal
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How Emmy Nominated Siddhartha Khosla Blended American Saga With Indian Raga by Divya Goyal
The one last hoorah for NBC’s beloved show This Is Us, which ended in May of this year, came with kudos for Indian American composer Siddhartha Khosla at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards (or the Emmys). The six extremely evocative seasons of This Is Us, which narrated the triumphs and tribulations of four generations of an American family, was backed by music which found roots in India. Khosla underlined an all-American television show with Indian notes and music played an integral part in the show. Khosla’s evocative and elevating music with notes of Indian classical blended effortlessly with a multi-generational story. "I don't think anyone would have predicted that that could have been the sound of a hit drama on NBC,” Khosla told the Insider.
Khosla said that the theme he composed for the show’s protagonist Jack Pearson, “Three Sentences,” was his favorite. First heard in Season 1, the theme appears now and then, especially during the show’s most poignant and emotional minutes. Three Sentences had an unmistakable undertone of Indian classical music and to any Indian watching the show, listening to “Three Sentences” would have come as a big surprise. “Three Sentences” pulled onto all the heartstrings and got deeply evocative, especially when heard in conjunction with the plot and the character’s developing story.
“Almost half of what I'm doing is classical Indian instruments, but I'm running them through effects and reverbs and treating them so they become sort of these walls of sound, atmospheric things," said the composer.
As an Indian sitting in North America, the show resonated with me on many levels. The plot of This Is Us is rooted in family values and traditions. The Pearsons are not your usual American family and yet they are. Their most important choices made them different from quintessential American families and this is where the music, which is as distinct as the family, complements the story. A big chunk of the show will remain with viewers forever, because of the music which bound the show’s plot.
“There’s clearly an Indian influence in the score too. It’s done in a way that the western audiences don’t know what it is. They hear it and find the sound interesting, new and unique. But a desi listener can hear it and say, ‘Oh that feels like classical’,” Khosla told Film Companion.