‘Showtime’ Series Soundtrack Composer Anand Bhaskar Channels Glitz and Grit

The latest series on the block, Showtime, is about showbiz and composer Anand Bhaskar was tasked with creating a filmi but modern soundtrack for the Disney+ Hotstar show. Part of the Anand Bhaskar Collective (ABC) and a composer, singer and lyricist for screen (most notably Mission Mangal, Baaghi 2 and Mirzapur, among others), Bhaskar says he dug into rock the way he would with ABC and more filmi pop influences for Showtime.

The series director Mihir Desai – who also worked with Bhaskar on Mirzapur – brought the composer in for what became their third project together, but it wasn’t business as usual. Bhaskar says, “Even when we’re not working together, we keep sharing music with each other. So when we started working on this,  he said, ‘Let’s do something in the rock space.’” At first, Bhaskar wondered if that meant the Bollywood-esque “watered down” rock music that’s heard in soundtracks, or something “with actual distorted guitar tones and stuff.” It was the latter and that’s how Bhaskar gave songs like “Mahroo” (with singer Romy and lyricist Ginny Diwan) a marked alt-rock that’s rarely heard. He adds, “The moments in the show kind of required the music to kind of lean more towards pop and hip hop, while still retaining some kind of rock attitude.”

He brought in vocalist Arjun Bala (from alt bands like Gumbal and Barty’s Path) to lead songs like the sad pop tune “Bikhre” and lo-fi song “Haara,” singer Nakash Aziz on the Nineties filmi music-driven “Lucky Lover,” regular collaborations like Diwan and Romy (“Mahroo”), plus hip-hop/rock artist Pratika and singer Ramya Kirtana (“Bombae”). “We got a four-piece choir of singers for backing vocals as well,” Bhaskar says.

Among the pieces Bhaskar begins talking about for Showtime is “Raghu’s Rage Riff,” a Nine Inch Nails-inspired theme written for the character essayed by actor Emraan Hashmi. “He’s kind of pissed off throughout the show and I just randomly named it and Mihir really liked it,” Bhaskar says with a laugh.

Elsewhere, there’s “Mahika’s Dilemma,” which was written for Mahima Makwana’s character and it appears at the end of the first episode. Bhaskar describes it as a “marriage between electronic, very Glitch Mob-y rhythm with lot of orchestral sort of violins, cello.” He adds, “It brings out the dilemma that Mahima [Makwana]’s character Mahika is facing. She inherits a studio and her life changes overnight. She was the outsider a minute ago and now she has the keys to the biggest studio in the country.”

Pointing out the sonic arc that he put into the show, the composer – along with fellow ABC bandmates and producers Hrishi Giridhar and Ajay Jayanthi – says they kept the first half of the series music to be pop/electronic and the second half “very ABC-inspired.” Bhaskar says, “Mihir [Desai] likes ABC’s music, so second half, we could go full ABC-performing-at-Coke-Studio. We completely went apeshit in the second half and we kind of gave it that whole rocky vibe to it.”

While the promotional song “Class” by Badshah, Diesby and featuring Nikhita Gandhi has done its job, the soundtrack has also picked up streams, particularly “Mahroo,” which sees Bhaskar team back up with Diwan and Romy after “Vichhda” from the series Masoom and “Vaaroon” from Mirzapur. “Before I could even call Ginny for Showtime, Mihir called her and said, ‘Listen, we’re doing this show. I’ve already briefed Anand. Now, I’m going to send you the briefs of the song, you start writing.’ It was a no-brainer. There’s a comfort there, working with Ginny,” Bhaskar adds.

Bhaskar has returned to Mirzapur as composer on the upcoming third season, rumored to begin streaming in mid-2024. “I’m doing a show called Paan Parda Zarda, which is for JioCinema. It’s about the opium trade in Madhya Pradesh. I’m also doing a movie called Train from Chhapraula, which is directed by Tisca Chopra and it’s got Radhika Apte, Divyendu [Sharma], Anshuman [Pushkar, from Jamtara] and [filmmaker] Anurag Kashyap.”

With Anand Bhaskar Collective, they’ve recently got new management and have finished writing their third album. “Three songs are ready in terms of production, one is fully mixed. Keshav Dhar [producer and guitarist for prog band Skyharbor] was mixing the songs, so we’re still going back and forth on what we need,” Bhaskar says. With a total of eight songs slotted into their next album, Bhaskar says they might just take the singles route.