“Krishnavataram has been a very special film for me” – Prasad S

Prasad S is the name you find associated with some of the biggest Hindi film songs made in today’s times. Also credited as Prasad Sashte, he is one of the most sought after arrangers and music producers today, Prasad has embellished songs like ‘Saawan Bairi’ (‘Commando’, 2013), ‘Ashq Na Ho’ (‘Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty’, 2014), ‘Ghar More Pardesiya’ (‘Kalank’, 2019), ‘Tumse Bhi Zyada’ (‘Tadap’, 2021), ‘Tere Hawale’ (‘Laal Singh Chadha’, 2022), ‘Tum Kya Mile’ (‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, 2023) and ‘Tu Meri Dhadak Hai’ (‘Dhadak 2’, 2025) among others. As a composer, too, he has left his mark with the songs he has created for films like ‘Mulk’ (2018), ‘Atithi Bhooto Bhava’ (2022) and ‘Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahaani’ (2024). He has done the background score for films like ‘Commando’ (2016), ‘Force 2’ (2016), ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana’ (2017) and ‘Ginny Weds Sunny’ (2023).

Recently, Prasad had a release in the form of ‘Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart (Hridayam)’, a devotional film where music plays a key role. Apart from composing all the songs for the film, Prasad also did the score for it. The film also marked Prasad’s first collaboration, as a composer, with lyricist Irshad Kamil. The film, which has been directed by Hardik Gajjar, has been having a steady run at the box office.  

In this interview, Prasad talks about doing the songs and score for ‘Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart (Hridayam)’, journey in music, collaborating with Irshad Kamil, long-standing association with Pritam, getting inspired from A. R. Rahman, upcoming projects and more.

‘Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart (Hridayam) was designed as a musical. How was the experience of doing the songs and score for the film?

It was a wonderful experience. The film released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English. The English version did not have songs. We had to get the songs done in all the other languages. It was a challenging but creatively fulfilling experience. As a composer, it is my first project with Irshad ji and that makes it all the more special. We used Indian instruments extensively. You can hear live instruments like flute, veena, sarangi, sitar, shehnai, nadaswaram, pakhawaj and mridangam in the songs. The songs have been sung by Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Shweta Mohan, Shivam Singh and Abby V. We also recorded the vocals of Swaradhish Dr. Bharat Balvalli. ‘Krishnavataram’ has been a very special film for me.

You have also lent your voice to one of the songs, ‘Kunj Bihari’. Have you ever had any vocal training?

No, I never had any training as a singer. I have sung aalaaps and a few other pieces here and there while producing songs. However, this is the first time I have sung a full-fledged song as a singer. In a way, this song marks my debut as a vocalist.

This is your fourth collaboration with director Hardik Gajjar after ‘Bhavai’ (2021), ‘Atithi Bhooto Bhava’ (2022) and ‘Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahaani’ (2024). You had done the background score for ‘Bhavai’ and both the score and the songs on the other two films.

Hardik is a very talented filmmaker. Every time we have worked together, he has given a lot of freedom to me as a composer. He worked very hard on this film. I hope we do many more films together.

You started your professional journey in music when you were just six years of age. Your father Prabhakar Sashte has been a renowned rhythmist. Back in the day, he played for composers like Kalyanji – Anandji and Laxmikant – Pyarelal.

My father was born in the Mangalwadi area of Girgaon, Mumbai. I was also born in Girgaon on 8 September, 1977. Kalyanji-Anandji were based in the same area. Their father owned a kirana store in that area. My father was the first person in the family who had an inclination towards music. He got acquainted with Kalyanji-Anandji as they used to live in the same area. Soon, he started playing for them. One of the first films he worked on was ‘Saraswatichandra’ (1968). He went on to work with them on several notable films including ‘Johny Mera Naam’ (1970) and ‘Don’ (1978). My mother Sulochana Sashte, who was a homemaker, supported him completely in his journey as a musician. I was also born in Girgaon on 8 September, 1977.

As a child, you would pick up the dholak, three-piece congas kept at home and start playing them. A turning point came in your life when your father gifted you a Casiotone keyboard. You would play the tunes of popular film songs on it. The first song that you played on that keyboard was ‘Papa Kehte Hain’ (‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’). Later, he gifted you more advanced keyboards. Would you consider your father to be your first guru?

Yes, he was my first guru. It was a privilege to have a musician at home you could learn from. I had another guru in the form of Mr. Shyamkant Paranjpe. He was based in Kurla and happened to be a good friend of my father. He would come down to Worli every Saturday and Sunday and our music sessions would take place there in the evening. He was the best teacher one could learn from. He used to teach me keyboard. I learnt Indian notation from him. I learnt western notation from Tony Pinto and Kishore Sharma. I also learnt from an elderly teacher, Mr. Baal Sathe. He was a violinist. Though he taught me for a very short period of time, he had a huge impact on me. His teaching style was very different. He knew how to teach a young child. Because of him, my interest in learning music remained alive. Overall, I had 7-8 gurus.

Did you learn to play percussions by yourself?

Yes! Because of my father, rhythm was in my genes. My introduction to music happened through rhythmic instruments. I would keep playing the three-piece congas, two-piece bongos and dholak at home. I would play the songs on a tape recorder and then, play the percussions as accompaniment. I would practice a lot back then.

Which is that one important lesson that you learnt from your father?

In the 1980s, the sound of the film industry was going through a major shift. A lot was changing towards the end of this decade. Electronics were coming in. As you rightly pointed out, my life changed when my father gifted me a keyboard. It had 8-10 sounds one could tinker with. I was fascinated by the instrument and it opened up a whole new world for me. At that time, Viju Shah was doing a lot of experiments with keyboards and synthesizers. He was a pioneer in electronics music and inspired musicians like me tremendously. 

You were in your teens when you started performing as a part of orchestra groups.

That’s right! I finished school in the mid ‘90s. I was about to step into the first year of college and by then, I had realized I had not have much interest in studies (laughs). That being said, I did graduate as an art student from Bhavans College, Mumbai in 1996. My parents were not very strict. They noticed my interest in music and gave me access to classes. I channelized all my energy towards music. I will always be grateful to my parents for supporting me wholeheartedly. My father used to do shows with Nitin Mukesh ji. He took me to his house once to meet him. Nitin ji was very kind and gracious. I auditioned for his shows. I was around 15 years old then. On a trial basis, he took me to Ludhiana. It was my first show and I played the keyboard there. After that, I started doing shows regularly. We would play Hindi songs in these shows. I did shows for several years and it was a good learning experience. However, after a point, I felt the urge to do something different. I felt I could create and arrange music on my own. This realization proved to be another turning point for me.

Music production and programming were new concepts in the ‘90s. My father had bought a keyboard for me. It was a module of a Roland sampler. The sampler changed a lot of things in music production. Around that time, Avadhoot Gupte, who is an accomplished singer and music director in Marathi cinema now, got in touch with me. Somebody had told me that I do music programming. Avadhoot had composed a Marathi album called ‘Themb Bhar Tuze Mann’. It had 7-8 songs. I did the programming for all the songs. Even then, Avadhoot was very mature as a composer. It has been 30-35 years but songs from that album play on radio till date.

In the year 1997, you met Monty Sharma and that proved to be another turning point in your career. How did you meet him?

Monty got to know about me and the work I was doing from somebody. One day, he called me and said that he wanted to meet me. He asked me to work on a medley of songs. Such tracks are called mashups now. He was very happy with what I did and gave me a lot of work after that. I worked with him on a lot of background scores. One of the many projects I worked with him on was ‘Devdas’ (2002). Getting a good guru is very important. I was fortunate to find somebody like Monty. My understanding of orchestral music came from him. He was an institution for me. He is a rare musician and should be celebrated much more.

His music was always known to have a sense of grandeur.

Yes! He would compose these grand music pieces that would blow everyone away. He would be constantly thinking about music. He would work with a large number of musicians. When I just started working with him, I would wonder how he handles so many musicians. When the musicians would start playing and everything would come together, it would sounded extraordinary.

In the last many years, you have produced several popular songs composed by Pritam. You met him for the first time in the year 2003 through Abhijit Roy, a sound engineer who also happened to be a common friend.

Yes! Tenny is Abhijit’s nickname and all of us refer to him by the same name. I met him during ‘Devdas’. He was assisting Bishwadeep Chatterjee at that time. Bishwadeep was the main sound engineer at Spectra Harmony. Tenny and I became friends. Pritam and him were very close. Back in Kolkata, they had a band called Chandrabindu. When the two of them came to Mumbai, Pritam was trying to get into films. Tenny made me meet Pritam. At that time, Pritam was doing ‘Raghu Romeo’ (2003). I worked on the background score for that film. Rajat Kapoor, who was directing the film, wanted some Italian and world music influences in the music. We worked according to his brief. Soon after that, I worked with Pritam on films like ‘Fun2shh… Dudes in the 10th Century’ (2003) and ‘Agnipankh’ (2004).

What do you like the most about Pritam?

The more you talk about him, the less it is. I have been associated with him since 2003. His simplicity as a human being is extremely inspiring. He has a child-like innocence to him. That innocence has made Pritam what he is today. He is a wonderful human being. That reflects in his music. The emotions in his songs come out so well.

You have worked with Arijit Singh on many songs both as a music producer and composer.

Arijit joined Pritam as a music producer in 2010. That is when I met him. Soon, we became very good friends. Even after ‘Aashiqui 2’ (2013) happened and he became big, we used to meet often at Pritam’s studio. One day, I asked him whether he would sing for me when I do a film as a composer. “Of course, I will”, he said. He sang for me both in ‘Atithi Bhooto Bhava’ and ‘Amar Prem Ki Amar Kahaani’.  There is no song he can’t sing. There are many similarities in Pritam and Arijit. Both of them are extremely simple and down-to-earth.

Back in the day, arrangers would be in charge of deciding the kind of instruments that would be used in a song and how it would sound. Now, that job is handled by music producers. How would you explain the term ‘music producer’ to a layman?

When electronics came in, people started looking for music producers. These were people who needed to know how to use keyboards and samplers. Earlier, music directors would work with a lot of musicians. There were violinists, table players, keyboardists, guitarists and a bunch of other people. The arranger would design the music pieces and give it to the musicians to play. He would work on the overall structure of the song. Once the sampler came in, it started doing all of that work. Now, one person, with the help of electronics, would do what several musicians were asked to do.

When did you start using software extensively?

When I did ‘Raghu Romeo’, we were not using software or computer to produce music. Music would only be recorded, and not created or produced, on the computer. I started using computer around 2004-05. Cubase was the first software I used. The first major song I produced using Cubase was ‘Tum Se Hi’ (‘Jab We Met’, 2007). Before that, I tried it on a few small songs to learn.

Somebody out there should make a documentary on the evolution of music production in India.

Yes, absolutely!

What are some of the qualities a music producer needs to have?

You should listen to a lot of music. If you want to arrange a song, you should be able to think from multiple angles. As a music producer, you are a rhythmist, bassist, guitarist, percussionist, all rolled into one. I have to perform multiple roles when I am producing a song.

When you were starting out as a music producer, was there someone who inspired you a lot?

A. R. Rahman sir was a huge influence. I used to replicate his sound on my keyboard. I remember programming all the songs of ‘Roja’ (1992) on my keyboard for practice. I would find the different sounds used in the songs and replicate them on my keyboard. This is how I trained my ears. Precision is very important in music. Now, there are many courses on music production. You can also find several videos and tutorials on YouTube.

Most session musicians went out of job when digital technology came in.

We cannot stop a particular transformation from happening in any line of work. It happened the way it was supposed to happen. One cannot deny the fact that musicians got affected adversely. Many a times, 40-50 musicians would play on a single song. They used to work every day. However, one has no option but to accept change. We use live instruments in many of our songs even now. Yes, it does not happen as frequently as it used to.

‘Tumse Bhi Zyada’ from ‘Tadap’ was a very well-produced song. You used a mixture of Indian sounds and western instruments. It had the feel of a big, commercial romantic song from another time.

We worked on this song during the lockdown. Milan Luthria, the director of the film, wanted the songs to have a ‘90s feel to them. Since all of us were confined to our homes, we used to speak to Pritam on the phone. Apart from infusing a ‘90s flavour, I also used influences of Latin music in the track. We used a bunch of live instruments as well. Rhythm Shaw played the guitars. Suresh Lalwani played the violin. We executed everything on the phone.

‘Tum Kya Mile’ from ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ boasted of some beautiful arrangements as well. It had many interesting layers to it.

We used many live instruments in ‘Tum Kya Mile’. Karan Johar wanted a love song that would be on the level of a ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ (‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’, 2001) and ‘Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum’ (‘Silsila’, 1981). Pritam is a perfectionist. Till the time he is satisfied with a song, he will keep making new drafts of it. He does not get tired. This motivates us to do our best. If the song is needed for the shoot, we send a draft that is ready. However, after that, he keeps working on the song. The string arrangements were done just a few days before the song released. The orchestra was recorded in Germany. My guru Kishore Sharma ji had arranged ‘Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum’. Since this song was in a similar space, I would always be very proud of producing it. In a way, it is my tribute to him.

The popularity of these songs also serve as a testimony to the fact that there is a huge listener base for Indian melodies. It’s unfortunate that the Hindi film and music industry makes very few such songs, despite there being a huge demand for them.

Even today, people listen to songs made by Laxmikant – Pyarelal and Nadeem – Shravan. Teenagers and children love songs from the ‘80s and the ‘90s. I have children at home and they listen to all kinds of music.

Apart from Pritam, you have produced songs for many other music directors in the last few years. ‘Dhoom Dhadaka’ from ‘Namaste England’ (2018), composed by Mannan Shaah, was a very good song.

Mannan is a very talented music director. He used to assist Pritam back in the day. That’s when we first met and became friends. The first song I produced for him was ‘Saawan Bairi’ from ‘Commando’ (2013). What I like the most about Mannan is that most of his songs have an essence of Indian classical music in them. Composers like him are very rare today. ‘Dhoom Dhadaka’ is also a raga based song. Shehnai and many other instruments were recorded live for this song.

In the last few years, one has seen you being quite active as a composer. Before ‘Krishnavataram Part 1’, you had composed songs for films like ‘Mulk’, ‘Atithi Bhooto Bhava’ and ‘Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahaani’.

I was always a composer. When I was in college, I had a friend called Danish Khan. Together, we worked on an album called ‘Bus Stop’. Two songs in the album were composed by me and sung by Javed Ali. Danish composed the rest of the songs. Unfortunately, the album never released. I still have those songs with me. In 2010, I had composed songs for a film called ‘Pappu Can’t Dance Saala’ which was directed by Saurabh Shukla. The album featured singers like Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Akriti Kakar, Kailash Kher, Javed Ali, Shilpa Rao and Sangeet Haldipur. With time, I got extremely busy with my work as a music arranger, producer and programmer and could not make enough time to take up assignments as a composer. However, now, I am working as a composer quite frequently.

‘Mulk’ had two terrific songs composed by you, ‘Thenge Se’ and ‘Khudara’. You also did the background score. How did this film happen?

There is a friend of mine called Bimal Oberoi. He recently acted in ‘Dhurandhar’ (2025) and ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ (2026). He has also written some songs for me. Bimal was an executive producer with Anubhav Sinha at that time. When he was working on ‘Mulk’, he asked me if I could make some songs for the film. He made me meet Anubhav ji. Once Anubhav ji gave me the brief, I started working on the songs. Later, I did the score for the film as well.

‘Atithi Bhooto Bhava’ also had some interesting songs like ‘Raat Kawari Hai’ and ‘Iss Dil Mein’.

‘Raat Kawari Hai’ was written by Mayur Puri. Mayur is a very sweet person. He is a simple man who is great at his craft. Back in the day, he wrote ‘Teri Ore’ from ‘Singh Iss Kinng’, (2008) which was produced by me. It was wonderful to work with him on this song. I hope to do many more songs with him in the near future. ‘Iss Dil Mein’ was written by Kunaal Verma and Priyanka R Bala. It was wonderful to have Ankit (Tiwari) sing this song.

You have done the background score for several notable films. Do you enjoy the process of doing the score for a film?

Yes, I do! Doing the background score for a film gives you the scope to display your musical abilities. Let me share an incident with you. Several years ago, I was working on the score of a film with Monty Sharma. We used to have sessions at Studio 2000 in Andheri. Those were my early days of working with Monty. For some reason, I was not able to do certain pieces. I was very upset. I thought I would never be able to do the score for a film. Then, we did a film called ‘Jeena Sirf Mere Liye’ (2002). Working on that film with Monty was another turning point for me. While working on this film, I understood the essence of background score. I got an idea about the different nuances involved in it. I got to know how the score can elevate a scene. My understanding about film scores expanded significantly. I started enjoying the process. After this film, Monty started giving me bigger responsibilities while doing the score for a film. For a composer doing the score for a film, understanding emotions is very important.

What does music mean to you?

Ever since I was a child, my world has revolved around music. Over the years, I have realized that music has helped me convey my emotions to the world out there. When you are making music, you are learning something new every day. The process of learning and discovering never stops.

What are you doing next?

I have produced a bunch of songs for different composers that will come out soon. As a composer, I have a couple of releases lined up for this year. There is ‘Jamai Raja’, ‘Chiranjeevi Hanuman’ and an untitled film.