A Suitable Boy ****
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A Suitable Boy **** ALEX HEFFES, ANOUSHKA SHANKAR Silva Screen 1631 Disc One: 20 tracks - 44:44 Disc Two: 25 tracks - 53:18 Vikram Seth’s sprawling historical novel A Suitable Boy traces the lives of four families through the period following India’s independence and post-partition. The mini-series adaptation for BBC One and Netflix fittingly features an almost entirely Indian cast and crew. The score, however, is by composer Alex Heffes (The Rite, King of Scotland), joined by renowned sitarist Anoushka Shankar, as well as other noted Indian musicians who combine to provide the musical voices of the characters. Silva’s two-disc album also features songs and instrumentals by the likes of Kavita Seth, Bombay Brass, Shujaat Husain Khan and Sharvari Deshpande, most of them appearing on the first platter. The playlist opens with an attractive “Prologue,” before “Lata’s Theme” provides a more specific thematic connection. By contrast, a jazzier idea for Meenakshi emerges in “Smitten Kitten.” While the score has its orchestral moments, it’s in the global music excursions where it truly shines. The combinations of Indian bansuri (a kind of flute) with orchestral material are particularly gorgeous in tracks like “No Harm in Dawn” and “Pillow Talk.” Contemporary electronics are added to the palette in “No Time Lover, Or Friend,” which recalls the scoring style employed by Heffes in works like The Last King of Scotland. After the first disc ends with the delightful “Unsuitable Tango,” the second playlist kicks off with a blend of sitar and strings on the jaunty “Railway Theme.” Things become darker and more mysterious in “Are You a Lipstick Girl,” where a simple piano outline repeats again and again, cementing an unsettled feel. The brief “Christmas in Prahapor” is a lighter moment that diverges from the previous fare, offsetting the bleaker tone prevalent in the latter stages of the album. Silva’s collection showcases a very listenable collage of regional inferences, contemporary electronics, and romantic orchestral passages. In the end, A Suitable Boy stands as one of Alex Heffes’ finest works, highlighted by its authentic exploration of Indian music and instrumentation. - Steven A. Kennedy .