Ram Sampath (born 25 July 1977) is an Indian composer, music producer and musician, who started his career composing advertising jingles for Mumbai-based advertising industry, subsequently he started composing for pop albums like Tanha Dil (2000) by Shaan, before composing for films like Khakee, Delhi Belly (2011), Talaash (2012), Raees etc.

Ram Sampath
Ram Sampath at the Loreal Paris Femina Women Awards 2014.
Ram Sampath at the Loreal Paris Femina Women Awards 2014.
Background information
Born (1977-07-25) 25 July 1977 (age 47) [1]
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
GenresRock music
Occupation(s)music director, composer, record producer, Singer
Years active1997–present
LabelsVarious
Websitewww.ramsampath.com

He has composed music for advertising jingles for brands like Airtel, Docomo, Thums Up, Pepsi and the Times of India.

Early life and background

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Born to a Tamilian father and Kannadiga mother, Sampath grew up in Chembur, Mumbai where he did his schooling from OLPS High School. Both his parents were musically inclined, while his grandfather TV Ramanujam, was one of the founders of Shanmukhananda Hall, a cultural centre in Sion, Mumbai, established in 1952.[1][2] Thus his ancestral house, was frequented by leading musicians and singers of Carnatic music. Later on, he too learnt Carnatic music for eight years. After his schooling he studied commerce at Podar College, Mumbai, where he played keyboard in a rock band.[1]

Career

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Non-film music

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Ram Sampath at MTV Coke Studio

Over the years, he has composed advertising jingles for brands like Airtel, Docomo, Thums Up, Pepsi and the Times of India, for which he composed the theme song for the "I Lead India" campaign in 2013.[1][3]

In 2008, he collaborated with the Australian rock band INXS to record Indian version of their songs, God's Top Ten, Devil's Party, and Afterglow.[4] Also in 2008, the Bombay High Court ruled that two songs from the film, Krazzy 4, including the title track "Krazzy4" and "Break-free" plagiarised the "hook-phrase" from an advertisement previously composed by Sampath for Sony Ericsson. The court ordered a stay on film's release with the two songs. Subsequently, the case was settled out-of-court after producers paid Sampath 20 million (US$240,000), and film was released along with the songs.[5][6] However the judgment was seen by "landmark decision" by legal commentators, as it set a new precedent in the Indian film industry, often plagued with plagiarism.[7][8] In 2012, he composed the highly popular title track "Tera Rang Aisa" of the debut talkshow Satyamev Jayate hosted by Aamir Khan, it had lyrics by Prasoon Joshi.[9]

He was also part of the 2013 season of the popular television music series Coke Studio.[10]

Film music

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Sampath got his first break as a film score composer with Let's Talk (2002) directed by Ram Madhvani. Thereafter, he composed for several films like Khakee (2004) and Family (2006) by Rajkumar Santoshi, besides Jumbo (2008), Aagey Se Right (2009) and Luv Ka The End (2011). However, he first received popular acclaim with Delhi Belly (2011) produced by Aamir Khan.[11] Most notably hit track "Bhaag DK Bose Aandhi Aayi" with -rock beat, became an internet sensation ahead of the release of the film.[12] Later he received a Filmfare Award nomination for the film. His next film, Talaash (2012) was a joint production between Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment and Aamir Khan Productions also starring Aamir Khan as the lead. The music received positive reviews, including Indiaglitz, which noted, "Once again Ram Sampath has an unmatched compilation of tracks here. Along with Javed Akhtar's fantastic lyrics they have created a masterpiece here."[13][14] Thereafter, Akhtar signed him again for his next production, Fukrey, directed by Mrigdeep Singh Lamba.[15] Fukrey was a sleeper hit and opened to good music reviews, especially for the song "Ambarsariya", an adaptation of a traditional Punjabi folk song, performed by Sona Mohapatra, his wife and regular collaborator.[16][17]

Television

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In 2009, he appeared as a judge of singing reality series, MTV Rock On (Season 1) on MTV India, along with singer Kailash Kher and MTV VJ Nikhil Chinapa.[18]

Personal life

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Ram Sampath is married to Sona Mohapatra, a singer, who is his frequent collaborator and business partner in their music production house OmGrown Music. The couple resides in Mumbai.[19] The couple met in 2002, while she was still working as a brand manager with Marico. They were introduced by director Ram Madhvani, with whom Sampath was working for Let's Talk (2002); they married in 2005.[20][21]

Discography

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Films

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Year Film Director Notes
2002 Let's Talk Ram Madhvani English-language film.
2004 Khakee Rajkumar Santoshi
2005 Chehraa Saurabh Shukla One song
2006 Family Rajkumar Santoshi
2007 Positive Farhan Akhtar Short film
2008 Jumbo Kompin Kemgumnird Animation film
2009 Aagey Se Right Indrajit Nattoji Along with Amartya Bobo Rahut
2010 Peepli Live Anusha Rizvi One song
Phillum City Deven Khote
2011 Luv Ka The End Bumpy
Game Abhinay Deo Background Score only
Delhi Belly Filmfare Award Nomination for Best Music

Screen Award Nomination for Best Music

2012 Talaash Reema Kagti
2013 Fukrey Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Aurangzeb Atul Shabarwal Sang the song "Barbadiyan"
Composed by Amartya Bobo Rahut
2014 Bhoothnath Returns Nitesh Tiwari Three songs
Purani Jeans Tanushri Chattrji Bassu
Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami Ravindra Gautam
2015 Bangistan Karan Anshuman
2016 Raman Raghav 2.0 Anurag Kashyap
Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive Abhishek Sharma One song
2017 Raees Rahul Dholakia Five songs
2023 Kathal Yashowardhan Mishra Netflix film
2024 Laapataa Ladies Kiran Rao

Albums

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Year Album Singer
1996 Loveology Shaan
1997 Mohabbat Kar Le Shiamak Davar
1998 Colourblind Ram Sampath
2000 Tanha Dil Shaan
2006 Sona Sona Mohapatra

Television

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Year Programme Notes
2009 MTV Rock On (Season 1) Judge (Reality singing competition)
1998 Baat Ban Jaaye Title Song
2012 Satyamev Jayate 14 Songs: title track and 13 theme based songs played at the end of each episode.
2013 MTV Coke Studio season 3 6 songs
2015 MTV Coke Studio season 4 4 songs

Awards and nominations

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Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Filmfare Awards
2012 Best Music Director Delhi Belly Nominated [22]
Mirchi Music Awards
2011 Best Background Score of the Year Delhi Belly Won [23]
2012 Indie Pop Song of the Year "Satyamev Jayate" Won [24][25]
Programmer & Arranger of the Year "Jiya Laage Na" from Talaash Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Aamir almost entirely ignores reputation: Ram Sampath". The Times of India. 12 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Profile:The Trinity of Institution Builders". Sri Shanmukhananda website. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Change yourself and you change the world, Ram Sampath says". The Times of India. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Ram Sampath to re-do INXS numbers". Sify. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Two Krazzy4 songs a copy: Bombay HC". The Hindu. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Judge says Krazzy 4 tracks are copied, case settled out-of-court". Indian Express. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  7. ^ Lawrence Liang (16 April 2008). "Copyright vs the right to copy". Indian Express. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  8. ^ Alisha Coelho (3 January 2010). "Copyrights mired in grey". Mid-Day. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Won't compromise with people's emotions: Aamir Khan". The Times of India. 14 April 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Indie musicians on national TV". Hindustan Times. 1 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Ram Sampath refuses 11 films, chooses Ektas project". The Times of India. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Hit song 'DK Bose' twists name into expletive". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  13. ^ Shama Bhagat. "Talaash: The Answer Lies Within - Music Review". Indiaglitz. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012.
  14. ^ Atta Khan. "Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (New)". Planet Bollywood.
  15. ^ "New filmmaker-music composer combos in Bollywood". The Times of India. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Fukrey - Times of India Music Review". The Times of India. 6 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  17. ^ "I'm desi all the way, and am proud to be one: Sona Mohapatra". The Times of India. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  18. ^ "MTV and Kurkure go 'desi' with Rock On". afaqs. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  19. ^ "Sona Mohapatra". The Telegraph. 30 June 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  20. ^ "Music's in the air: The Inside Story of Ram Sampath and Sona Mohapatra". Economy Decoded. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  21. ^ "Ram Sampath: Delhi Belly is behind me". Rediff.com Movies. 28 July 2011. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  22. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (11 January 2012). "Nominations for 57th Idea Filmfare Awards 2011 - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Winners - Mirchi Music Awards 2011".
  24. ^ "Nominations - Mirchi Music Award Hindi 2012". www.radiomirchi.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Winners - Mirchi Music Award Hindi 2012". www.radiomirchi.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
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