Music director Vikram Montrose has had a steady career since his debut with the song Kar Har Maidan Fateh in Sanju. The composer is now awaiting the release of his new films Torbaaz and Mere Desh Ki Dharti. Torbaaz, which stars Sanjay Dutt and Nargis Fakhri, is set to release on Netflix, and explores the subject of child suicide bombers in Afghanistan, while Mere Desh Ki Dharti, featuring Divyendu Sharma (known for Mirzapur) and Anupriya Goenka, is a film about patriotism.
“The soundtrack and background score I have composed for Mere Desh Ki Dharti are highly commercial. All the five songs in the film are from different genres. There’s one track that is a remake of Manoj Kumar’s original composition, but it’s completely rewritten and recomposed,” explains Vikram. Speaking about Torbaaz, the composer says he has used different experimental sounds in it. “I hope people like what they listen to. The film is about what is happening in the world,” he says.
This film is Vikram’s second collaboration with Sanjay after Prassthanam. The actor had spotted the composer and recommended his name to Rajkumar Hirani for Sanju. Before he got this break, Vikram who is originally from Allahabad, was working at a call centre and in his free time, was learning music on his own. “I am not formally trained. My first influence was my mother who is a classical singer. I learnt to play the piano, drums and guitar while I was in school. It was in college that I made up my mind to become a music director,” he says.
However, it took two years after he came to Mumbai to get his first break. Vikram was ready with a bank of 103 songs, when Sanju happened. “I have been blessed to have a mentor like Sanjay sir. He heard my songs and liked them so much that he guided me and helped me get work,” signs off Vikram.