Disneynature ‘Tiger’ Film: Nitin Sawhney Creates ‘Epic’ and ‘Wistful’ Music

Master composer Nitin Sawhney lends his inimitable flair to Disneynature’s new nature film Tiger, which launched on Disney+ Hotstar on Earth Day, April 22nd.

Narrated by actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Tiger – directed by Mark Linfield and co-directed by Vanessa Berlowitz and Rob Sullivan – follows the story of a young tigress named Ambar who is raising her cubs in India’s forests. Sawhney matches up to the storytelling in place, creating themes for some of the main cast of tigers and taking viewers through moments of curiosity, intimacy, tension and more.

Sawhney says, “[It’s] a combination of dramatic tension, familial warmth, solitude, yearning and visceral aggression. I needed to find a musical vocabulary that would reflect all of that.” The Indian-origin British composer who’s worked on music for films ranging from Midnight’s Children to The Namesake and released acclaimed albums like Beyond Skin (1999) and Prophesy (2001) worked closely with the directors and co-directors of Tiger to gain insight into the history and journey of the species. “The music therefore incorporates powerful beats, orchestral soundscapes, strong inflections of Indian bansuri, vocal pyrotechnics and laments. All this is brought together with themes and motifs to accentuate the emerging narrative of a family of tigers struggling to survive,” he adds.

Focused around the tigress Ambar and her cubs, Berlowitz says they were drawn to working with Sawhney because he’s “one of the most exciting composers and musicians working today.” She adds, “He’s famous for combining Asian and other worldwide influences, drawing on a deep understanding of Indian classical music and infusing this into a film score that also works for the classic storytelling required for a broad Disney family audience.”

With specific pieces to introduce and give viewers a feel of the characteristics that seem to define Ambar, her cub and the male tiger Shankar, Sawhney says he wrote “Meet Ambar” when he was watching the first scenes of the film. “There is a wistful sense of nurturing and bonding that I found with the melody beautifully expressed by Ian Burdge’s cello,” he adds. Sawhney didn’t want to portray Shankar as an “out and out villain” but says he added “an appropriate sense of power and menace.” The composer says, “His theme is uncompromisingly epic, majestic and full of threat.”

Sawhney worked with the likes of bansuri artist Ashwin Srinivasan, who also helped coordinate with India-based artists like vocalist Ankita Joshi, violinist Yadnesh Raikar and tabla artist Vinayak Netke who contributed to the music for Tiger.

According to the composer, the full score was recorded with an orchestra featuring 62 string players. “We focused on strings with the orchestra as many of the other sounds were covered within my own studio. It was amazing, as always, to hear the orchestra bring all the musical elements to life and give them weight.”

‘Tiger’ is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Watch the trailer below.