Composer Shashwat Sachdev’s fearless journey

If there’s one thing that’s important for Shashwat Sachdev, it’s to be proud of the work he does. “I want to be in a space where I can critique myself well,” he says.

The composer, who started his film career with Phillauri (2017), followed it with Veere Di Wedding (2018), and his recent  release being Uri: The Surgical Strike. Shashwat believes that he’s been fortunate to work with people who have great taste in music. “Whether Anushka and Karnesh Sharma, who encouraged me during Phillauri, or Rhea Kapoor, who has a fantastic sense of music and was fearless in letting me create the kind of music I wanted to for Veere, it’s been an amazing journey,” he enthuses. Working with Aditya Dhar, the director of Uri, was a special experience, too. “He came with his own courage and clarity of thought. All these people didn’t have the baggage of how the audience is going to react or what they are going to say. All they said was, ‘Sha, you give us what you want to and let’s give it our own sound’. They wanted to crack a philosophy that hadn’t been sonically done before,” he adds.

Shashwat’s films have been in different genres but the musician has never had a difficulty working for any particular one. “In Indian commercial cinema, you will find yourself working for only one thing — drama. While Phillauri was a period drama, Veere was a romantic one and Uri a war drama. One just has to understand how drama and emotions work together. I’ve been fortunate that my directors enjoy working with my attempt or take on it,” he explains. Genre is not more important but the kind of collaborations are. “I’ve shared amazing relationships with the people I’ve worked with. As an artiste, that’s what I want to do,” he adds.

The positive reactions Shashwat has received for his works in the web show Selection Day means he is also scoring the music for its second season. While the emotions and techniques remain the same for every platform, the composer says that it’s been a learning process for him to work in the digital medium. “It’s given me a perspective on how I was operating earlier and how I do now. It’s become a little more streamlined and disciplined. Eventually, it comes down to emotions. That will never change,” he signs off.