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Art runs in his blood. Ram Sampath, known to Hindi cinema as the composer of films as varied as Khakee, Family, Delhi Belly, Fukrey and Laapataa Ladies and albums like Shiamak Davar’s Mohabbat Kar Le, has lost count also of the jingles he has done—he has been told by an observer that it might be around 7000!
He calls composition as an art form: his grandfather, P.C. Ramanujam, was a founding member of Mumbai’s iconic arts and cultural venue, Shanmukhananda Hall. His father, T.R. Sampath, encouraged his son to follow music when he found that he could compose songs.
“I am half-Tamilian, half-Kannadiga!” smiles Sampath. “Yes, my second name is misleading, suggesting North Indian origins.”
Sampath has trained for eight years in Carnatic Music and for four years in Hindustani classic, besides learning classical piano for four years too. But he confesses that his training was fragmented. “I was too undisciplined and would always be hearing music in my head!” he reveals. “I personally often find composing on any instrument to be limiting. The instrument should become a part of a song.”
Shankar Mahadevan is the only other Southern composer (apart from Hariharan in the non-film domain) to be Mumbai-based. So why has Sampath restricted himself to Hindi cinema and not done any films down South? Is it because few are aware of his roots, or has there been a lack of offers?
“Oddly enough, it is a bit of both!” he replies. “But honestly, I am not even fluent in either Kannada or Tamil!”
Married to singer-musician Sona Mohapatra who is from Odisha, Sampath cherishes his long association in cinema with Aamir Khan. The association took off with Sampath helping out in the song Mehangai daayan from Aamir’s production, Peepli [Live] in 2010, followed by Delhi Belly (2011), which had the cult song, Bhaag DK Bose, and went on to Talaash, the TV show Satyameva Jayate, Laapataa Ladies and the background score for Sitaare Zameen Par. Aamir’s Ek Din, scheduled for release in early May, will be their next collab.
Says Sampath, “Aamir is very strong, and particularly clear, on music. A lot of the work on Ek Din was done when I accompanied him to Chennai where his mother had to go for her treatment, and all the melodies were locked within a week.”
