MUMBAI: One of India’s most distinctive acts, Advaita’s brand of contemporary Indian psychedelia – fusing traditional Indian instruments with electronic and rock influences – has impressed people across tastes and borders. The Delhi band now finally gets to showcase its sound in the soon-to-released Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar starrer, ‘Wazir’.

The movie, to be released on 8 January, features Advaita’s composition ‘Khel Khel Mein’, which is a special rework of the track ‘Mo Funk’ from their second album, ‘The Silent Sea’ released in 2012.

Director Bejoy Nambiar roped in the eight-member Delhi-based band after being introduced to their music and especially ‘Mo Funk’ from ‘The Silent Sea’. He made changes to the screenplay and created a scene to fit the Advaita song – a monologue by Bachchan set to the music. The Bachchan baritone gives the Advaita tune – also used in the trailer of the film – a gravitas that suits the tone of the movie in true Nambiar style.

“A friend of mine, Prashant Pillai, who has worked with Bejoy, happened to play our music to him and Bejoy got hooked to ‘Mo Funk’ from our second album, ‘The Silent Sea’,” says the band’s bassist Gaurav Chintamani. “I got a call from Bejoy a little later and he told me that he had literally written a scene for the film after hearing the track and wanted us to make a version of the track for this project that he was working on. He didn’t give me any details, as in the project name, star cast, etc. The band had seen ‘Shaitaan’ and were familiar with his work so we were pretty kicked about it,” Gaurav adds.

Nambiar didn’t share any footage with the band either. All they had to go by was a narration by the director and the idea of how the song would be used in the film – against a game of chess. The lyrics, written by Abhijeet Deshpande and spoken by the legendary Bachchan, also gave Advaita an idea of the mood of the song.

For a band that has been together for more than 11 years, ‘Wazir’ wasn’t the first Bollywood offer that it received. But it was the first that allowed the band members to retain their creativity and originality. “Bejoy’s insistence that we retain our sound just made this a dream gig. An indie band’s scepticism towards mainstream Bollywood can’t be denied. The forces of commerce and mass appeal are notorious for adulterating the vision of artists, but we couldn’t have asked for a better first gig,” says Gaurav.

Advaita is an eight-person ensemble featuring Abhishek Mathur (guitars), Aman Singh (drums), Anindo Bose (keyboards), Chayan Adhikari (Western vocals/guitar), Gaurav Chintamani (bass), Mohit Lal (tabla), Suhail Yusuf Khan (sarangi/vocals) and Ujwal Nagar (Hindustani vocals).