'Shanghai' music rooted in Indian street music: Composer

Director Dibakar Banerjee's political thriller Shanghai, which has opened to a warm response from the audiences, boasts of energetic songs and a slick background score. Composer Mikey McCleary says he relied a lot on Indian street music to get the right effect.

"The music is rooted in Indian street music. Everyone enjoys this. We mixed that with ambient music and it's an interesting mix. I had to listen a lot and study it...It was fascinating and I learned a lot about the pulse and the rhythm," said Mickey whose parents are from New Zealand.

Set in a shanty town, "Shanghai" puts the spotlight on corruption and other problems plaguing the Indian political scene. Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin and Abhay Deol's performances have made it worth a watch.

Talking about Dibakar Banerjee's style, Mikey said: "There were all these pieces and I had to do it without seeing the film. This was something that Dibakar suggested. He gave me an idea of what these pieces felt like. He thought if I would work in this way, the result would be more interesting. And it was successful."

Born in India, Mikey studied music after high school and was also part of an orchestra. He made his Bollywood debut with Aftab Shivdasani's "Aao Wish Karein" and later worked with A.R. Rahman on "Pray For Me Brother" track and then assisted Salim-Suleiman on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Currently Mikey, whose sister is married to Lucky Ali, lives in the entertainment capital of the country. He even worked on Lucky Ali's first album "Sunoh".

"Everyone, who you work with, teaches you something different. Everyone does things differently. Working with Vishal-Shekhar is different than working with A.R. Rahman," he said.