INTERVIEW | Ram Sampath On Bond With Aamir Khan, Why He Still Loves Making Jingles After 7000 Of Them, His 6-year Break And More
From a deep bond with Aamir Khan and the magic behind Laapataa Ladies, Ram Sampath opens up on music, breaks, and beginnings.
By Minal Rudra
Published : August 25, 2025 at 5:32 PM IST
The ball that Delhi Belly set rolling for Ram Sampath carried him into a string of memorable projects. He went on to give music for films like Fukrey, Talaash, Raees and Laapataa Ladies, adding up to nearly two dozen titles. And need we even say it, his Coke Studio hits Aigiri Nandini, Dum Dum Andar, Rangabati and more continue to play on repeat for fans. While his bond with advertising jingles remains strong, Sampath has also stepped into production, widening his creative canvas. In conversation with ETV Bharat, the composer opens up about his long association with Aamir Khan, why he had to start early, his six-year hiatus from film music, and much more.
By the age of nine, he had already decided to be a music composer. “There were compulsions that pushed me to take up music professionally so young, but I am grateful that I found my calling early. From then on, I never looked back,” Sampath says. At sixteen, advertising agencies were already trusting him with jingles. His very first, he remembers, was in Telugu for Shakti Gas, made in just three hours under immense pressure. “It was a great training ground. It taught me not just about music but also about production and about people, and those lessons have stayed with me.”
Sampath began his journey in advertising and created unforgettable jingles like Har Friend Zaroori Hai, which still resurfaces every Friendship Day, along with memorable ones for Closeup and Tata DoCoMo (who can forget the catchy Do Do Do?). But he was never just the “jingle man.” By the early 2000s, he had collaborated with independent musicians, scored for television, and composed songs like Shiamak Davar’s high-energy pop anthem Mohabbat Kar Le and Shaan’s Tanha Dil, which became the anthem of lonely wanderers. These were the songs that everyone was glued to in the heyday of music channels.
His first big Bollywood break came with the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Khakee in 2004. But the moment that made everyone sit up and take notice arrived in 2011 with a cheeky track that shook Bollywood. Bhaag D.K. Bose from Delhi Belly announced Ram Sampath as a composer willing to blow up the template.
Delhi Belly brought him into Aamir Khan’s orbit, and at the time Sampath had no idea he was about to forge a long creative partnership with the superstar. “We share the same aesthetics because we grew up on the golden era of Hindi film music. Nasir Hussain, R. D. Burman, Majrooh Sultanpuri, S. D. Burman, Lata Mangeshkar... their songs were the soundtrack of our lives.”
What he values most in Aamir is the instinct to push past what already exists. “He always comes with ideas that will challenge you to create something that the marketplace doesn’t even understand. The attempt is always to set a new benchmark." He furthers, "There was no Bhaag D K Bose before Delhi Belly... no one knew what a song like that would even sound like."
Their collaboration reached its peak with the Khan-produced and hosted television show Satyamev Jayate. Each episode ended with a song, many of which turned into social statements. Sampath composed 24 songs across three seasons, including the title track. He recalls how O Ri Chiraiya emerged almost instantly during a discussion on female foeticide. "It came to me in one sitting," he recalls excitedly. "Those are the moments you live for as a composer, when music carries the weight of a story bigger than yourself.”
With Laapataa Ladies, he created an album that critics and audiences celebrated alike. While Sajani has become the audience favourite, he speaks most fondly of Dheeme Dheeme, penned by Swanand Kirkire and sung by Shreya Ghoshal. “I still believe that song came to me because of how dialogue writer Sneha Desai narrated the film to me. And then Aamir had the insight to place it at the end of the film instead of the beginning. That changed everything... it was a masterstroke by Amir.”
Khan’s latest release Sitaare Zameen Par carries background score by Sampath, and it too came with a fresh challenge. “For Sitaare Zameen Par, we were very clear that we didn’t want the audience to feel pity for our neurodivergent cast. We wanted them to see the characters as people like us. That is something I learnt from Aamir’s way of storytelling. We all sit together with no reference point and decide we are going to create something brand new and that equips me as a composer.”
Amir aside, one of his closest collaborators has been his life partner, singer Sona Mohapatra. Sampath lights up at the mention of her. “She is a master storyteller. She sings only as much as is needed to tell the story. There is no vanity. When you give her a song, she makes it hers. That authenticity is rare.”
Ask Sampath how he composes, and the answer is simple. “Anything can come first. A line, a melody, a thought. I try not to be rigid. Instruments can trap you into patterns. So I let life happen and allow compositions to reveal themselves. I don’t know how it works... music has been knocking at my brain for so long that I can’t unexperience it.”
The industry is fickle by nature, and the pressure to deliver is immense. Yet Ram says he carries it lightly. “I don’t think beyond the day. Earlier I used to worry a lot, but now I live in gratitude. Pressure is a privilege. Most people would be happy to be in my position, so if pressure comes with it, that too is a privilege."
Not everything has been smooth for Ram. He has seen his fair share of ups and downs. After the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Raees in 2017, where his reimagining of Laila Main Laila and the romantic ballad Zaalima in Arijit Singh’s voice topped charts, he stepped away from Bollywood for six years.
“I was out of step with the industry... I didn't know where the industry was going. Many films I signed did not shape up. I was burnt out, so I quit films for a while. I played live, mentored young artists, and started producing content.” That detour led to Rangeela Pictures, his production house. Its first Netflix series Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper released in 2024, with more projects lined up. “That time helped me recharge. I began to see myself not just as a music composer but as a creative person at large.”
Over three decades later, Sampath has more than 7,000 jingles to his credit and the advertising world still keeps him connected to his beginnings. His recent jingle Celebrating the Colours of India for Birla Opus Paints crossed 15 million views on YouTube. "This was a special one to me because it reminds me of my childhood and everything I love about our culture. And it’s not just about values; it’s about celebration. India, if you can get past the chaos and the hassles, is a daily celebration. No matter where you are in the country, somewhere you’ll hear a dhol or a taasha, some kind of festivity, some music. The colours and the storytelling really captured that spirit. And children connect with it instinctively. That’s the magic of it...and for me that is the truest compliment."
Whether it is films or adverts, Sampath does not approach composing any differently. “I love working in different media. Films, commercials, long form, short form, and even just radio. For me it is all storytelling. When the storytelling is of high quality, I am happy to be a part of it, and then the platform doesn't matter.”
Years in advertising taught him one golden rule: the client will always ask, “aur options hai kya?” Ram takes it in his stride, calling it part and parcel of the job. It has also made him open to feedback, even the strangest ones. He laughs as he recalls a client once asking him to create a “yellow sound.” At the time he had no idea what that meant; only later did he discover synesthesia, a condition where music and colours intertwine. “I did manage to give him what he felt was a 'yellow sound.' So I learnt something new that day.”
Or the time when a studio tea boy offered the most valuable insight. “We were struggling with a campaign line nobody could understand. Everyone was being polite. Then the tea boy entered and he said, ‘yeh kuch samajh mein nahin aa raha hai.’ That was it. Anybody can contribute if you are willing to listen.”
Before concluding our conversation, I asked him to imagine a playlist for the day. Sampath chose S. D. Burman’s Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hai from Guide, Ilaiyaraaja’s Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le from Sadma, and Kumar Gandharva’s Ud Jayega Hans Akela. Songs that speak of yearning, hope, and taking flight, not too different from his own story.
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