Born and brought up in Kolkata, composer duo Kaushik and Guddu share a strong bond since childhood which has culminated into them being one of the most popular, upcoming composers of Bollywood in recent times. While Kaushik is a trained vocalist in Indian Classical, under the tutelage of Pt Ajay Chakraborty, Guddu holds a vast knowledge in Western melodies. The power packed duo has already composed for commercial hits like Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi, Ayushmann Khurrana’s Badhaai Ho, Rajkummar Rao’s Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana and so on. We caught up with Kaushik to learn more about their journey so far, and upcoming projects.
How did you discover a common interest in music composition?
It was never planned per se, I personally wanted to do something unique with my classical music training while Guddu was occupied with his engagements in a few local bands. It was around 2007-2008 while listening to music on a regular evening, we realised we could do something on similar lines utilising skills in our respective lines, together. That’s how our journey started. It took us some time to pick up the nuances of music composition, after which we shifted to Mumbai.
What do you consider as your breakthrough moment?
It was about 5-6 years back that Amul Vikas Mohan came to meet us and listen to our tunes. We made him listen to our Tera Hoke Rahoon, which he liked instantly and locked for his movie Behen Hogi Teri starring Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Hassan. Our next breakthrough moment was when Akshay Kumar insisted on including one of our tunes in his 2021 commercial hit Sooryavanshi. Our song Mere Yaara was supposed to go for another film, but Akshay Kumar and Rohit Shetty insisted on keeping it for this film in particular.
How do you make your compositions stand out from others?
Lending a unique touch to one’s compositions is extremely important, and we try to stir something new with every tune. We try to keep our melodies as diverse as possible and not limit it to just Indian or Western styles. We also try to put in a soul to every track we compose instead of planning everything ahead. It lends an emotional touch to the tracks and makes it more relatable.
Is there any actor that you would love to compose for, but haven’t yet?
Both I and Guddu are big fans of Shah Rukh Khan and we missed a golden opportunity to work on one of his projects. We are definitely looking forward to working on his film in the near future, and would love to compose something for Salman Khan and Aamir Khan too. Amongst newer stars, it has to be Vicky Kaushal and Kartik Aaryan.
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What were some of the challenges that you had to overcome in order to make your mark in Bollywood?
It was challenging for sure, and challenges pop up in every step even till date. One of the major challenges that we had to overcome as individuals was to learn and accept each other’s styles. On the other hand, as a team we had to pick up a lot of new technologies and also overcome ar lingual barriers since we are Bengalis by birth. I think we have come a long way working on these challenges, and have a longer road ahead to walk on.
What are some of the projects that you are working on currently?
We are working for a few movies, but can’t disclose much about them. We are looking forward to offering some new tunes and sounds to our audiences in the coming months. The tunes that we are working on are dominated by strong melodies. We also wish to collaborate with global artists in the near future.