Shashwat Sachdev

Biography

Shashwat Sachdev (born January 1, 1987) is an Indian music composer, producer, and sound designer known for his work in Hindi cinema. He won the Best Background Music in the 66th National Film Awards for his score in Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019) and also won for Best Music Direction in 72th National Film Award for his song in Article 370 (2024). He also won the 65th Filmfare R. D. Burman Award for best new and upcoming talent. Subsequently, he received acclaim for his contributions to the soundtracks of Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026).

Early life and education

Sachdev was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where his father is a doctor while his mother, is a Philosophy lecturer at the University of Rajasthan, who had studied music. He started learning music when he was three years old, beginning with tabla for six months, followed by Hindustani classical vocals under Ustad Ramzan Khan, a sarangi exponent of the Sikar gharana for many years. He then went on to train in the Western classical piano during his school days. He studied law at Symbiosis Law School, Pune for 5 years, before moving to Hollywood, Los Angeles in 2011 to start his career in music.

Career

Shashwat started his career in 2011 in Hollywood, Los Angeles working on numerous projects before moving to India in 2016.
In 2017, he was chosen as the music composer for Phillauri, which starred Anushka Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh.
In 2018, he composed four songs for Veere Di Wedding, a Bollywood female buddy comedy film, directed by Shashanka Ghosh. The film starred Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. In the same year, he scored for Selection Day, an Indian Netflix Original sports web television series, based on Aravind Adiga's 2016 novel of the same name. It was produced by Anil Kapoor and Anand Tucker.
In 2019, he composed the music as well as the background score for Uri: The Surgical Strike, an Indian action film written and directed by debutant Aditya Dhar, and produced by Ronnie Screwvala under his banner RSVP Movies. The film, starring Vicky Kaushal, is based on the 2016 Indian Army's surgical strikes on PoK in retaliation for the Uri attack. The film's music received rave reviews. His background score was also appreciated and released separately on popular demand. Shashwat won the award for Best Background Music at the 66th National Film Awards and the IIFA Award for Best Background Score at the 21st IIFA Awards for Uri: The Surgical Strike. He also won the 65th Filmfare R.D. Burman Award for Best New and Upcoming Talent.
In 2021, he released a production album titled Euphoria (And the Following Realities)×Euphoria (And the Following Realities)4 August 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1The New Karma3:332Euphoria (Kaala Doriya)4:323Seeking Rapture4:294Blade3:535Delirious3:226Conqueror (Jugni)3:287Ecstasy (Ant Bahar)3:428Dharma2:409Bliss (Ahir Bhairav)3:4910Brahman4:3211Maya4:4212Climax3:42 under Extreme Music. The track "Dharma", from the album, won Best World Production Music 2021 and Shashwat himself won PRS Foundation The Best Newcomer 2021 in the Production Music Awards 2021 held in London on 12 December 2021.
In 2022, he worked on the soundtrack of the film Attack: Part 1, an Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed and co-written by Lakshya Raj Anand. The film produced by Jayantilal Gada, John Abraham and Ajay Kapoor, starred John Abraham alongside Jacqueline Fernandez and Rakul Preet Singh.
Shashwat, released independent music with a new label called IndieA Records launched in India with the intention to nurture and promote independent artists backed by Universal Music India. He dropped his first piece of music with them called "Awaara Ho×Awaara Ho10 August 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Awaara Ho3:29".
2024 saw his work on the soundtrack for the film Article 370×Article 37019 February 2024 · Album · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Ishq Tera3:462Main Hoon3:223Aandhi3:344Dua4:385Main Tujhe Phir Miloongi5:336Najariya LoFi Cake Mix2:377Masters Of The World1:59, a political action thriller film directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, who co-wrote the film with Aditya Dhar, Arjun Dhawan, and Monal Thaakar. Produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Aditya Dhar, and Lokesh Dhar, the film stars Yami Gautam, Priyamani, Skand Thakur, Ashwini Kaul, Vaibhav Tatwawadi, Arun Govil, and Kiran Karmarkar in pivotal roles. In the same year, he composed a song for the film Kill and composed the soundtrack for the film Ulajh×Ulajh29 July 2024 · Album · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Shaukan2:482Aaja Oye2:383Main Hoon Tera Ae Watan4:154Ilahi Mere Rubaroo5:175Jao Ji Jao4:006Thoda Galat2:54.
Shashwat worked as a featured artist on Hans Zimmer and James Everingham's score for the 2025 BBC crime thriller Virdee, based on AA Dhand's much-loved novels. The six-part series was adapted for the screen by AA Dhand and was produced by Magical Society for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. In August 2025, he composed the soundtrack for web series The Ba***ds of Bollywood. In December 2025, he worked on the soundtrack of the film Dhurandhar. His second collaboration with Aditya Dhar, after Uri: The Surgical Strike, it received widespread acclaim, with its modern reinterpretations of nostalgic source material, and contributions from Hanumankind, Reble, Diljit Dosanjh, Simran Choudhary, Arijit Singh and Jasmine Sandlas among others, being highlighted as the main reason for its success. India Today praised the creative reworking of retro melodies, calling the result "fresh, exciting, and tightly woven" into the film's contemporary action drama, resonating with audiences across generations. He also composed the soundtrack for its 2026 sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge×Dhurandhar: The Revenge17 March 2026 · Album · SoundtrackSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Dhurandhar The Revenge - Aari Aari3:302Main Aur Tu3:303Jaan Se Guzarte Hain5:314Destiny - Mann Atkeya3:465Jaiye Sajana2:59. While publications like The Week praised the inclusion of retro iconic tracks in the soundtrack, and said that "the overall soundtrack is just a notch below the former one", others like mint, described it as being "darker, grittier and heavier than the former".
He is now set to compose the soundtrack for the Ram Charan production The Indian House, and the Mohanlal starrer Operation Ganga.