Shanghai Theme

Except for the omnipresent Dhol Drums, there is not much background music in the film. Once in a while, I remember hearing plucked strings echoing T.A. Krishnan’s state of mind, that too only very briefly. Dibakar Banerjee’s previous film Love, Sex aur Dhokha, also had no background score throughout the film except for a haunting Piano theme that gave a closure to all characters in all the three stories towards the end of the film. In Shanghai too, there is just only one big musical stretch. The combination of muted ambient soundtrack and the musical score (Composed by Mickey McCleary) in full volume, especially because there is no recognizable music throughout the film, works to great effect. Though there is no background score, the narrative and the performances are so gripping that you don’t realize it until we get to this long musical moment.

Shanghai Theme

The Composer Mickey McCleary has uploaded the entire background score on Soundcloud