Entertainment · Indian Cinema · 1 hr ago
Jesper Kyd discusses scoring Tumbbad and Assassin’s Creed II
Jesper Kyd is a Danish composer known for music in video games, including Assassin’s Creed II.
He also composed the score for Tumbbad, an Indian folk-horror film released in 2018.
The film follows Vinayak Rao’s lifelong pursuit of hidden treasure in a village in Maharashtra.
Kyd joined the project after co-director Adesh Prasad was drawn to a track he had made for Hitman: Blood Money.
Kyd and Prasad aimed for a distinctive sound that felt connected to Tumbbad’s world rather than relying on familiar musical cues.
The score combines strings, percussion, altered acoustic instruments and electronic sounds.
Tumbbad received critical acclaim and has since gained a cult following.
Danish composer Jesper Kyd discussed his scores for Tumbbad and Assassin’s Creed II in an interview with The Hindu.
Kyd scored the 2018 Indian folk-horror film Tumbbad, directed by Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad.
The film follows Vinayak Rao’s lifelong pursuit of hidden treasure in a village in Maharashtra.
Kyd said the film brought together fantasy and horror and felt honest and tangible.
Tumbbad premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival and opened in cinemas on October 12, 2018.
- Who
- Jesper Kyd, a Danish composer, discussed his work on Tumbbad and Assassin’s Creed II.
- What
- An interview focused on his memories of scoring the two works.
- When
- The Hindu published the interview on October 12, 2026.
- Where
- The Hindu published the interview; Tumbbad is set in a village in Maharashtra.
- Why
- The interview explored Kyd’s work on the scores and the lasting legacy of the works.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
As soon as I saw the footage, I could feel that there was something honest and real about the film. It brought together two of my favourite genres: fantasy and horror. There was an earthy realism to the film that I can’t quite explain. Everything felt so tangible, even as supernatural elements entered the story.
I’d never worked on an Indian production before, so I was thrown straight into something new. I worked closely with Adesh, and our conversations focused on what the score should be and how far we could push it. We wanted a score that felt original. The goal was to make something that just kind of oozed that world. This score only works for Tumbbad.
Adesh did send me videos about Indian culture and festivals, which inspired me, and I interpreted those influences in my own way. We were more interested in finding something in between a sound that felt otherworldly and wasn’t tied too firmly to anything familiar. It needed to seem as though it came from an alternate place.
Tumbbad premiered in the Critics’ Week section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival.
Tumbbad opened in cinemas.
The Hindu published its interview with Jesper Kyd.
- Composer
- Jesper Kyd
- Film
- Tumbbad
- Tumbbad release
- October 12, 2018
- Festival premiere
- Critics’ Week, 75th Venice International Film Festival
- Setting
- A rain-soaked village in Maharashtra
Sources
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