Mahdi Ahmed

AHMED IMTHIYAZ (INTHI): THE QUIET POWER OF MUSIC IN KAN’BULO

By mahdiahmed on July 24, 2025

Music in film isn’t always about melody. Sometimes, it’s about breath. Sometimes, it’s about silence stretched between notes. Sometimes, it’s about the invisible — that emotional frequency humming beneath a scene, pulling the audience deeper without them ever realizing why.

For Kan’bulo, I already knew where we were heading emotionally as we built this film. But knowing and hearing are two very different things. And once again, Ahmed Imthiyaz (Inthi) reminded me why music is one of cinema’s most powerful storytellers.

Having worked with last year’s blockbuster Kamanaa, I expected craftsmanship from Inthi. What I wasn’t prepared for was how intimately he would understand the emotional architecture of Kan’bulo. This isn’t a score designed to be noticed. It’s a score designed to be felt — deeply, quietly, with precision. It knows when to linger. It knows when to disappear.

Where Kamanaa was about desire and longing, Kan’bulo walks a far more fragile emotional terrain. Inthi’s compositions are built with restraint, never intruding on the performances, but carefully stitching themselves into the fabric of the film’s atmosphere. His music doesn’t dramatize pain; it respects it. It doesn’t soften the story; it carries it.

As I listened to the score unfold against the rough cut, I realized how often his music felt like a second heartbeat beneath the protagonist’s silence. These aren’t just tracks layered for effect. They are carefully constructed emotional cues — leading, supporting, reflecting. The synergy between the images and Inthi’s compositions creates a haunting resonance that lingers long after the scenes have passed.

Inthi has proven once again that his talent isn’t in composing music alone; it’s in understanding narrative, pacing, and silence as deeply as any screenwriter or director. His work on Kan’bulo brings an invisible depth to the film, shaping moments without stealing focus.

While audiences will see the faces, hear the words, and follow the story, I know they’ll also carry something quieter with them when they leave — the echo of Inthi’s music, still resonating somewhere beneath their skin.

Kan’bulo is set to be released on 31 August 2025.