So nuanced that it deftly complemented the storyline from the word go, the soundtrack of Anurag Kashyap-s Choked acquired as much attention as the film itself. The man behind the mesmerising score is Karsh Kale — long upheld as the king of alternate music in India — who avid listeners of mainstream music will remember for creating the Train song from Zoya Akhtar-s Gully Boy 2019. Over a call from New York at a time when the protest against police brutality that led to the death of George Floyd, is at its peak, Kale says, "It-s inspiring to see so many people hit the streets and stand up for something they believe in, even in the face of a pandemic."

In certain ways, Kale-s words mirror his trajectory — the indie artiste has, for several years, protested against filmmakers who-ve egged him on to give commercial fare a go, choosing instead, to work on lesser, but nuanced pieces. "It-s just not who I am," he says of an approach long exploited by makers of mainstream cinema. "I don-t want to join the Bollywood bandwagon. Some things can get you attention, but not the right kind. I want listeners to dig deep into what I create. Success is not about being famous. I am not an entertainer. I am the guy who will disturb the comfortable, and comfort the disturbed." You could attribute his fever to sway from the routine to his time spent with Zakir Hussain during the onset of his career. "If you ask him [Hussain] why his music isn-t played in stadiums, he will simply say, -It doesn-t belong there.-"