Do you hear raga Bhairavi in the Bond theme?

The thrilling piece that accompanies the opening credits was once an Indian tune meant for a Naipaul musical, writes S R Ramakrishna

A fun fact about the iconic James Bond theme music is that it was first intended as an Indian tune. If you heard a faint outline of the Karnatik raga Bhairavi as the opening titles rolled, and then wondered if you were hallucinating, you weren’t!

Monty Norman was composing the score for a musical adaptation of V S Naipaul’s novel ‘A House for Mr Biswas,’ and had made a song titled ‘Good sign, bad sign.’ The novel is set in Trinidad, and is partly autobiographical.

The production never made it to the stage. When Norman was roped in for the first James Bond film Dr No, he abandoned the Indian-style graces of his tune and made it snappier. He then gave it to John Barry, who arranged it with jazzy edginess. The tune has endured for six decades, and defined espionage music, inspiring the music of spy films across the world. You hear the same stylistic influences in the music made for Bond-inspired Kannada spy films.

Tushar Lall, based in Mumbai, has recreated the Bond theme with an Indian-style arrangement, using the harmonium, flute and the sitar. You can hear it on YouTube. The Indian Jam Project, of which he is the founder, Indianises Hollywood themes. Another theme he has recreated is from Mission Impossible. Does the piano on this theme remind you of the wildly popular ‘Take 5’? There is a reason.

Lalo Schifrin, the Argentinian composer of the Mission Impossible theme, had created the tune for a TV show in 1966, four years after Dr No, featuring the Bond theme, was released. “I suppose the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s ‘Take 5’ was in my heart, but the 5/4 tempo just came naturally. It’s forceful, and the listener never feels comfortable,” he later told The Wall Street Journal. The beat is similar to what is called khanda chaapu in Karnatik music, and jhap in Hindustani music, but the accents are not identical.

The story goes that when the Brubeck quartet first tried to record ‘Take 5’, they found the beat difficult to negotiate, and gave up. They came back another day and completed the recording. Classical musicians in our subcontinent play this beat with effortless ease, and a delightful example is what Sachal Studios Orchestra, based in Lahore, has done with Take 5.

Brought together by a businessman called Izzat Majeed, an orchestra comprising the sitar, sarod, flute and the tabla has recorded a delightful version of Take 5. The Sachal Jazz Ensemble, comprising musicians drawn from this orchestra, has performed in London, New York and Paris.

An accomplished Bengaluru musician who has covered this tune is Chandana Bala Kalyan. Check out her TEDx talk about how her grounding in Karnatik music helped her crack the complex rhythm of this flamboyant jazz classic.