Etti Bali (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 4, 2020)

The insider-outsider debate has opened a Pandora’s box in the Hindi film industry. Even musician A R Rahman and sound designer Resul Pookutty spoke about facing rejection in Bollywood post their Hollywood stint. Now, music producer and composer Ram Sampath, who has given music for films such as Delhi Belly (2011) and Fukrey (2013), opens up about favouritism in the industry and how only a select few have the final say.

“Bollywood is a bunch of clans and as a music composer, you end up working for one of them. Unlike the West where there are studios, professional executives, a pipeline to launch talent and a pride in systems that nurture future stars and reward the meritorious, here, the shots are called by a few interconnected families, with rare exceptions,” he says.

Having composed music for advertising campaigns and pop songs, Sampath felt the need to take the leap into Bollywood as “having a few successful Bollywood films under your belt makes life much more tenable as a professional”. He shifted gears with Khakee (2004). What followed was requests to copy songs. “I can’t recall a single enjoyable experience of working with producers in Bollywood, except Aamir Khan. Everyone else has a contract that takes away your rights before you play a single note, or shop for third party music behind your back, or have limited budgets and unlimited changes,” he shares. His wife, artiste Sona Mohapatra, recently tweeted about his plight. “Getting a ‘Laila’ shoved down my throat in the last film I scored, Raees (2017), despite the initial brief being to make a dance song like my own, ‘Aisa Jadoo Dala Re’, was a blow,” he says.

The composer, who started working at the age of 16 to support his family, has now found solace in other activities. “With Sona’s help, I’ve been focussed on living a well-rounded life,” he says, adding, “The independent music scene is bursting with new talent and now is a good time to revive the music scene outside of Bollywood.”