Bollywood Music Directors

From Expanding Your Horizons

Bollywood is a big industry. Basically, it's just an "Indian" Hollywood. Many people have gotten an opppurtunity to sing, compose music, act in movies, and more things just through Bollywood. Read these articles to find more information on such stars.

[edit] Solo Music Directors

A.R. Rahman

Allah Rakha Rahman was born on January 6, 1966 as, is a critically acclaimed award-winning composer, record producer and musician. Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as "Roots" and "Nemesis Avenue" with friends including Sivamani. He was approached by film director Mani Ratnam to compose the score and soundtrack for Ratnam's Tamil film Roja. The debut led Rahman to receive the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards, the first time ever by a first-time film composer.

Some of A.R. Rahmans superhit Soundtracks include:

  • Guru (2007)
  • Lagaan (2001)
  • Taal (1999)
  • Rang De Basanti (2006)
  • Swades (2004)
  • Dil Se… (1998)

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Pritam

Pritam Chakraborthy, also known as Pritam is a controversial music composer in India, known for being inspired by various type of music. Born in Kolkata, Pritam is the son of Prabodh Chakraborty, who runs a music school for children. Pritam gained his early training in music from his father, and learned to play the guitar while still in school. Pritam was suppose to be a judge on Saregamapa Lil Champs International along with Sonu Nigam but instead, he was replaced with Suresh Wadkar. Instead, he is a judge on Gajjendra Singh's Star Voice of India Chhote Ustaad along with Kunal Gangawala and Shreya Ghoshal.Having completed his education, Pritam moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in Bollywood. During his stay in Mumbai, he began composing ad jingles, and became friendly with a number of other young men struggling to make it big, like Shantanu Moitra, Rajkumar Hirani, Sanjay Gadhvi and Chandrajeet Ganguly, also known as Jeet, who played the guitar with Anup Jalota.Jeet and Pritam worked together for only one more film which was Mudda-The Issue, before amicably parting.


Some of Pritam's superhit Soundtracks include:

  • Jab We Met (2007)
  • Dhoom 2 (2006)
  • Dhoom (2004)
  • Race (2008)
  • Golmaal Returns(2008)
  • Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)

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[edit] Music Director Duos/Trios

Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa are all music composers from India. Each member of this trio brings his own unique talents and experiences to the group; combining the Carnatic and Classical Indian vocal tradition (Shankar), Wester Rock (Ehsaan) and a deep understanding of fusion including a virtual mastery over the Electronic Synthesizer (Loy). Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have come to create and retain a sweet spot in the mindspace of young audiences by successfully bridging that gap in their own inimitable style. They have won and continue to win critical and commercial acclaim and several awards.

Some of Shankar, Ehsaaan, and Loys superhit Soundtracks include:

  • Kal Ho Na Ho (2003)
  • Bunty Aur Babli (2005)
  • Mission Kashmir (2000)
  • Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)
  • Taare Zameen Par (2007)
  • Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007)

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Vishal-Shekhar

Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravijani are one of Bollywoods most popular duos today. The two rose to success after their album, Jhankaar Beats. They won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for Jhankaar Beats. Their music is very popular among the youths. 2005 was a good year for Vishal and Shekhar as they composed the scores for three hit films: Salaam Namaste, Dus, and Bluffmaster. Vishal-Shekhar were recently seen judging a popular music talent hunt show on Zee TV called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. Vishal Dadlani is also the vocalist of Mumbai-based electronic band Pentagram. Shekhar is married and has a daughter named Bipasha. He is trained in classical music and has a good sound base. Their music is thus a combination of Indian classical with western rock influence brought by Vishal. They sometimes write the lyrics for the music they compose. They have also had experience in playback singing.

Some of Vishal-Shekhar's superhit Soundtracks include:

  • Om Shanti Om (2007)
  • Cash (2007)
  • Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007)
  • Dus (2005)
  • Taxi No. 9211 (2006)

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Salim-Sulaiman

Salim and Sulaiman are famous Hindi music directors in India. The Salim-Sulaiman duo consist of two brothers, Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant. Salim and Sulaiman have been composing music for over a decade.Before composing music, they were composing the background scores for movies. They are famous for their background scores in their horror flicks.Born in 1970 (Sulaiman) and 1974 (Salim), the brothers grew up in a musical home. Their father Sadruddin Merchant was a music director and composer. Salim also plays keyboards while Sulaiman focuses on percussion. They also sing.Salim-Sulaiman started their career in the theatre whilst still in their teens. The door to Bollywood opened in 1997 when they were working on an advertising jingle.

Some of Salim Sulaiman's Superhit soundtracks include:

  • Aaja Nachle (2007)
  • Krrish (2006)
  • Hum Tum (2004)
  • Kaal (2005)
  • Salaam Namaste (2005)
  • Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004)

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