You’re doing exciting work in films.
I’m getting to compose music for diverse language films from all over the country.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
For Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, I’m doing Punjabi music with a twist. For Trishna, it’s a lot of Rajasthani sound. In Lootera, I’m composing Bengali period music with Baul, Rabindra Sangeet influences. Then, there are films in Marathi, Gujarat and Tamil.
And also produced for Coke Studio Season 2.
I composed five tracks for the show and I really enjoyed it. As opposed to films, there were no boundaries. I expressed myself freely.
Tell us about a track in the show where you really pushed the envelope.
I like Nirmohi, a Punjabi pop-jazz track penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, sung by Harshdeep Kaur and Devender Singh, a talented seventeen-year-old boy I found in Ludhiana.
Your favourite instrument?
I play the keyboard, but I am fond of all wind instruments, the oboe in particular.
Contemporary music composers you admire?
Ram Sampath.
What do you think of Sneha Khanwalkar’s Gangs of Wasseypur soundtrack?
I haven’t heard much of it, though I have sung a song for the film, Keh Ke Loonga.
Aren’t too many artists’ voices engineered?
Yes, because as composers we are looking for textured voices, and often the singers we find are not trained to perform in a studio environment. So we need technology to
doctor their voices to suit the format.
Do you think popular Indian music will eventually be recognised internationally?
Today’s youth has gone way beyond Bollywood music. A good sign. While Indian classical maestros have already reached the global platform, for popular genres, it’ll take a few years.
Is there a shift in the music industry?
I see a parallel industry for independent music blooming alongside film music.
