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News18
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
RUUH And JOH On Composing For The Royals: 'We Wrote The Music Before...'
Last Updated: RUUH and JOH talk to News18 Showsha about composing The Royals soundtrack before filming, reimagining RD Burman, and their creative process. When music becomes mood, and sound becomes story, you're likely listening to RUUH and JOH. The dynamic composer duo—rising fast through the ranks of India's musical avant-garde—have just delivered what they call their 'most ambitious soundtrack yet" with The Royals, a sonic tapestry rich in retro glam, cinematic grandeur, and unapologetic emotion. In an industry often ruled by formulas, their instinctive approach to songwriting—rooted in honesty, experimentation, and sheer passion—feels refreshingly radical. Known for weaving pop sensibilities with textured orchestration, RUUH and JOH aren't just riding the wave of OTT music's golden age—they're shaping it. From the dark, intoxicating charm of Aadayein Teri to the euphoric high of Ecstasy, their latest project pulses with emotional range and technical polish. And in a bold move, they've even reimagined the RD Burman classic Tu Tu Hai Wahi, infusing it with modern finesse while preserving its nostalgic soul—a balancing act that few could pull off with such elegance. But the story behind the music is just as compelling. Composed before the show was even shot, their tracks served as the emotional scaffolding for The Royals' most pivotal scenes. Featuring powerhouse vocalists like Jubin Nautiyal, Jonita Gandhi, Neeti Mohan, and Sukriti Kakkar, the soundtrack is not only a celebration of genre-bending creativity but a testament to collaboration and trust—one that allowed two relatively new voices to dream big and deliver bigger. In this exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, RUUH and JOH take us inside their candle-lit studio sessions, the sonic references behind their regal soundscape, and how love, legacy, and late-night jam sessions shaped the music of The Royals. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jo (@johmusicx) Here are the excerpts: How did the narrative of 'The Royals" influence your sonic choices for each track? Did you compose with the characters in mind? We wrote the music. We were given a script to write and that's actually how we understood the mood of the sounds and the sonics of everything. For Dil Diwana, it's a very grand ballroom sort of sound. That's what we try to work around. When it comes to Adaiyen Teri, it starts a bit dark. If you see the show, it's a little tense at that moment. We did the exact same thing again. Even with Ecstasy and our rendition of Tu Tu Hai Wahi, it's a very lively and upbeat vibe. That's actually how we decided what the sonics of the music should sound like. It's by the script. We wrote all of this music before it was shot. Fortunately for us, they shot to our music, which was great. We did not compose any tracks for the characters in mind. It was just for the scene. You've called this your most ambitious soundtrack yet. What was the most challenging moment during the making—and what was the most magical? The first challenging thing is that we were actually working on Call Me Bae simultaneously while we worked on The Royals. When you're working on a project of this magnitude, these are some of the biggest OTT shows over the past year. To be able to deliver quality is a very challenging part. I think it's a good practice and somehow we managed to have bangers on Call Me Bae and to have it on The Royals. Another challenging part is when we always want to push the envelope. When we wrote these songs, we knew that we wanted to go bigger with our sound. We knew that we wanted to have these legendary vocalists on this album. For two artists that are maybe very new to this industry, to have names of that magnitude is difficult to get. We didn't know where to start. I guess it was just a dream. The magical part is when it actually became a reality for us to have some of the most iconic voices on our soundtrack. Each track has a different emotional temperature—how did you calibrate the shift from the intoxicating 'Aadayein Teri" to the melancholic 'Ecstasy"? It was mainly on the scene. We were given the script to write the music to. And that's actually how we composed the music. We had some help from the team for The Royals. They gave us some ideas on how the sets are going to look. We also did go to one of the set visits while they were shooting that was very grand and that's actually when we realised that we need to amp up our music more to match what they came up with, which is absolutely beautiful. From Adaiyein Teri to Ecstasy. Ecstasy was a terrace party kind of vibe. So, it was more energetic. Adaiyein Teri actually was a little darker, it had a choreographed sequence which was absolutely beautiful done by Nora and Ishan. The switch for us was actually done in a week because we wrote everything in about two weeks. Also, there's a marriage between the music director, showrunners of the show and the directors of the series. When you have a great team that puts everything together like we did with Pritish Nandy Communications. They're verybsupportive. They let us do our thing, which is the reason why the music sounds so different from anything else that you've heard of is because of that immense trust that we received from an incredible team. That kind of helps bring the music and the film together, that perfect synergy. The ballroom vibe and disco grooves are such a refreshing shift—how did you strike that balance between retro glam and modern polish? This comes from a combination of disco legacy from the 80s and contemporary sounds that we have been working on for over a decade. It's in our DNA and it's tough to explain, but I guess that's what art is. It just comes to you. You've remade RD Burman's iconic 'Tu Tu Hai Wahi"—what was your emotional approach to reimagining a classic without diluting its nostalgia? Tu Tu Hai Wahi is like a very iconic song. And normally it's very difficult to touch iconic songs because they're already at a very different level. However, our approach to doing this song is that we just wanted to introduce this song to a new generation of listeners, or maybe a younger generation that haven't heard this song before and package it in a way where it is accessible to them. This was our take on the song. We're very proud of what we managed to put together with Jubin Nautiyal and Jonita Gandhi. It's got nostalgia and then it's got also a very expensive sound attached to it, which is what we normally do with all our music. Were there any specific sonic references you both shared while building the mood for 'The Royals"? Any old-school Bollywood or global disco influences? When we write music, I don't think we're thinking about getting influenced by an artist or a song or anything as such. We're just trying to do what's best according to our ears. We definitely did take Fattu Tu Hai Wahi. We listened to what the track actually sound like. And a lot of the disco form. The 80's really influenced us. We try to mix our genres from disco of old school and some new sonics from the West. It's just a really beautiful amalgamation for us. If I had to give you stuff that we were inspired by songs like I'm abDisco Dancer or Zindagi Meri Dance. When I said earlier that for this particular soundtrack, it is a combination of our disco legacy from the 80s, which is a lot of music that our dad sang, coupled with our contemporary sound. If we had to give you that, it is like an ode to the disco music of the 80s in Bollywood with a contemporary twist. You brought in powerhouse voices like Jubin Nautiyal, Jonita Gandhi, Sukriti Kakkar and Neeti Mohan—how do you tailor your compositions to fit such distinct vocal textures? All the demos were sung by us. We actually just wrote good music. What was interesting is that when you have these iconic voices and you think that they're known for a certain sound but then when they sang our songs, they sounded completely different. That was the beauty for us and for all our amazing collaborators that they sounded so different on these songs. We were speaking with Neeti Mohan and she was like a couple of people called us and they said that our voice sounds so different on this song. That for us is a win when we have all these incredible artists at the top of their game. Then they have a voice that they can reinvent with our music. That is a huge win for us. When you work on romantic tracks, how do you keep reinventing love through sound, rather than repeating a formula? Reinventing love through sound. To be honest, at least from our perspective, we draw a lot from our own personal life. Let's just say it's the Taylor Swift model of writing music. But we think that is also the most honest way of writing music. That's how you get a very honest melody when it means something to you. We don't think formulas really could work here. They work up to a certain point and then your music and sound becomes generic. When you're writing from a very personal place in your heart, that's how you create magic. We would say that for us personally, every song and every melody that I've written is like a piece of my life in that song. You've moved from indie hits to massive soundtracks. How do you stay grounded creatively as your music gets bigger in scale? JOH – I think it's a dream to be able to do music as your job because then you're never working a single day. Creatively it's not a task. It is never a task because it's something that we're fuelled by. We enjoy music. We enjoy listening to music, making music, and singing in general. I think for us, it's not as difficult as I think people perceive it because this is literally our whole lives. Creatively, you get inspired by sounds from the world and sounds from the past. You're just trying to make the best song according to you. Reuel – I feel like my whole life, I have worked towards this moment and I've envisioned this moment for years and years to be at this place. I know that it is just the start. Together, we're going to do way bigger things. When you prep for success in anything, one of the major parts of your preparation is also to stay grounded because once you lose the plot, it will affect your art. Along with me prepping for this moment of doing these very big songs and big projects, one thing that's very important is to continue to stay grounded. Not only just for yourself but also for your music. The prep work has helped and we continue to move forward with our music. What do your studio sessions usually look like—moodboards, instruments, playlists, candlelight? Paint us a picture. It's us in a room with a piano, a couple of guitars, a Joe Malone candle lit and a lot of fun. Our approach to music is not like whenever we have somebody in the studio, I think we will spend maybe 2-3 hours just talking to them, having a good time, eating and just doing stuff that has nothing related to the project. In the last hours when we actually create the magic, we get that sound. A relationship is very important between anyone that you work with, which is the reason why every artist that we've collaborated with, they're all really close friends of ours. We share a lot more than just the music. I think when you hear the songs, you'll feel that. It is a very personal experience. The most important thing about creating music is just having fun first and then the music will just come to you. Is there a dream collaborator—artist or filmmaker—you both would love to work with in the future? JOH – I come from an electronic background, so I'm going to talk about an artist called Skrillex. I'd love to have him. RUUH – My dream collaborator would be Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan. If I could get on that bill, I'm made because they're a huge inspiration to my music. So yeah, that would definitely be it. First Published:
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Business Standard
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Religare Enterprises climbs 7% in trade; here's what is behind surge
Religare Enterprises share price jumped 6.6 per cent in trade on Wednesday, logging an intraday high at ₹234 per share on BSE. The northward movement in the stock came after the company posted Q4 results. At 12:45 PM, Religare Enterprises shares were up 4.28 per cent at ₹228.85 per share on the BSE. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 0.41 per cent at 81,523. The market capitalisation of the company stood at ₹7,567.01 crore. The 52-week high of the stock was at ₹319.9 per share and the 52-week low of the stock was at ₹201 per share. Catch Stock Market Latest Updates Today LIVE Religare Enterprises Q4 results 2025 The company announced its fourth quarter (Q4FY25) results on May 20, 2025, after market hours. The company's consolidated net profit after tax (PAT) stood at ₹151.3 crore as compared to ₹181 crore a year ago, down 17 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). However, sequentially, the company swung from loss of ₹36.28 crore in Q3. Its revenue from operations increased 9.3 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹2,028.4 crore for Q4 against ₹1,855.68 crore a year ago. In Q3, the revenue stood at ₹1,664.4 crore. ALSO READ | Why did Ircon International share price rise 3% on Wednesday, May 21? Burman family takeover In February 2025, the Burman family acquired control of Delhi based financial services firm, Religare Enterprises and were designated as its promoters after almost 18 month of a takeover battle. "We are grateful to our regulators, shareholders and other stakeholders for their trust and confidence," the Burman family said in a statement. The Burman Group will work with REL's leadership and board to reinforce its strategic direction and enhance long-term value creation. The takeover battle for Religare began in September 2023 when the Burmans of Dabur group, having reached a 25 percent stake in the company, made an open offer to acquire an additional 26 percent. However, the senior management, led by chairperson Rashmi Saluja, opposed the offer, contending that the price of ₹235 per share undervalued the company. In a communication to the regulators, the then-board also raised questions about whether the Burmans meet the "fit and proper" criteria of the regulators. The Burman family said they are successfully operating insurance firms and an NBFC and hence meet all the criteria.
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bengali farmer ‘abducted' by Bangladeshi miscreants repatriated to India
A farmer from West Bengal's Coochbehar district, who was allegedly captured by Bangladeshi nationals last month, was repatriated to India on Wednesday night (May 14, 2025). Ukil Burman, an elderly farmer residing in Coochbehar's Sitalkuchi area, was reportedly working on a field near the international border on April 16, when a group of Bangladeshi nationals allegedly abducted him. He was repatriated on the same day as Purnam Kumar Shaw, a constable of the Border Security Force who was in the custody of Pakistani forces since April 23 after he inadvertently crossed the international border. Celebrations ensued at Mr. Burman's home in Sitalkuchi, where a large number of his relatives and neighbours had gathered with sweets on the occasion of his return after almost a month. 'I was working in a rice field at that time. Around six Bangladeshi nationals captured me and took me to an unknown location. I tried screaming, but to no avail. They had taken hold of my limbs. I was made to sleep on the floor, but they did not assault me,' Mr. Burman told local mediapersons after returning home on Thursday. He was reportedly handed over to the neighbouring country's authorities and was in jail in Bangladesh's Lalmonirhat for nearly a month till his return. Upon his return, Mr. Burman underwent medical tests and was taken to the Sitalkuchi police station briefly before he was brought home to his family. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also addressed the issue of M.r. Burman's return on Wednesday, saying that arranging for his repatriation was the State's priority and that the governments of the two nations are in touch. In her address, Ms Banerjee also said that a few people have been identified who had allegedly 'assisted' in Mr. Burman's abduction. 'We have flagged some people, the Bibhishan-like traitors who got him abducted. I won't speak on this further. No party has the right to label someone as 'deshi' (national) or 'bideshi' (foreigner). Who got him abducted? He was captured from his own piece of land,' the Chief Minister said. It is worth noting that on April 16, a few hours before Mr. Burman was allegedly abducted, the Border Security Force in the Sitalkuchi area had fired at a group of Bangladeshi smugglers near the border. One of them had reportedly died. 'While he was in Bangladesh, Mr. Burman was verbally taunted by Bangladeshi nationals who told him he was captured as a form of revenge. While he was in a lot of mental distress, he was not tortured there. He is a Brahmin who abstains from garlic or onion; however, he was compelled to eat the food provided in the jail at Lalmonirhat,' Trinamool leader and former MP Partha Pratim Ray told The Hindu. Mr. Ray had visited Mr. Burman upon his return. He added that Mr. Burman's land was located in the no-man's-land area across the international border fence. 'Many people here have land in the immediate area beyond the fence, in the no-man's zone. Mr. Burman was captured from there,' Mr. Ray added. Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday wrote on social media that he spoke to Mr. Burman on the phone and that a delegation of local BJP legislators, including Sankar Ghosh, Baren Chandra Barman, Malati Rava Roy, Sukumar Roy, Dipak Barman and Sushil Barman, visited Mr. Barman when he was presented in court in Cooch Behar.
News18
15-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Bangladesh Hands Over Detained Indian Farmer To BSF, BJP Thanks PM Modi
Last Updated: Local sources say Ukil Burman and his wife had crossed the barbed wire fence with permission from the BSF to irrigate their farmland but he was 'abducted by 4-5 men' Ukil Burman, a farmer who was taken into custody by Bangladeshi authorities late in April, was released and handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday night, close on the heels of Pakistan sending BSF jawan Purnam Shaw home. Burman's family in Sitalkuchi in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district had been anxiously awaiting his return for nearly a month. According to his wife, he was working in his paddy field near the India-Bangladesh border when he was abducted. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had instructed the Chief Secretary to pursue the matter through appropriate diplomatic channels. Local Member of Parliament Jagdish Basuniya confirmed that Burman had been held in a Bangladeshi jail. Speaking to News18, he said, 'From what we know, he was in jail in Bangladesh. It's good that he has now been released. We stood by his family throughout. He is our Rajbongshi brother." The incident took place in the border village of Paschim Sitalkuchi. Local sources say Burman and his wife, Sabya Bala Barman, had crossed the barbed wire fence with permission from the BSF to irrigate their farmland. Recalling the day of the incident, Sabya Bala said: 'Around 8am, we went across the fence to water the crops. Around noon, he left the irrigation pump near the fence and went further into the field, asking me to stay back. That's when I heard his cries. Four to five Bangladeshi men abducted him." Reacting to his release, BJP leader Amit Malviya thanked 'the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for their outstanding leadership". 'However, you may not have heard the opposition raising its voice for the release of Ukil Barman. That's because the Nehruvian ecosystem has long erased East Pakistan—now Bangladesh—from national discourse, conveniently overlooking the suffering of millions of Bengali Hindu refugees. But that narrative must change. It is time to refocus on West Bengal and reclaim the state's rich cultural heritage. The first step begins with ensuring Mamata Banerjee's ouster in 2026." First Published: May 15, 2025, 11:04 IST
The Hindu
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
How S.D. Burman's music was deeply influenced by folk and classical traditions
Recalling an amusing incident on the sets of the 1960 film Kala Bazar, actor Waheeda Rahman describes how the entire team laughed when music director Sachin Dev Burman lifted his dhoti up to demonstrate what steps she should do in the song 'Rimjhim ke taraane'. 'We found it really sweet,' she says. In another instance, Gulzar talks about a debate between Burman and Bandini director Bimal Roy over how Nutan should be depicted in 'Mora gora ang le le', his debut song as a lyricist. Though they represent different shades of S.D. Burman's personality, they provide evidence of how closely the music director was involved in the way his songs were depicted on screen. This trait of his is mentioned often in the book The Monk And His Music (Qurate Books) by Moti Lalwani and Richa Lakhanpal. Other aspects such as his approach to studio recordings, the way he interacted with musicians and filmmakers, his sense of dressing, how he was a fan of the East Bengal football team and his love for paan are mentioned too. This isn't a quintessential musical biography. Thirteen books have already been written on the composer, including biographies in English by H.Q. Chowdhury, Khagesh Dev Burman, Anirudha Bhattacharjee-Balaji Vittal and Sathya Saran. We might see more in the years to come because Burman dada's music is eternal. Though he belonged to an era gone by, admirers of his work across the globe are still eager to know how he managed to create songs that continue to tug at our heartstrings. S.D. Burman's music was a beautiful blend of folk and classical that he imbibed as a child growing up in Comilla (now part of Bangladesh). Quite a few of his songs drew a visual imagery of Bengal through their Baul and Bhatiali-inspired tunes. While Burman's mother, Rajkumari Nirmala Devi, was the royal princess of Manipur, his father, Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman, was the son of the maharaja of Tripura. Moving away from the royal trappings, Burman found his calling in music. In The Monk And His Music, Moti and Richa have interviewed several people associated with Burman either professionally or personally such as radio personality Ameen Sayani, music directors Anandji Shah, Ravindra Jain, Pyarelal Sharma and Khayyam, classical musicians Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, and lyricists Yogesh Gaur and Gopaldas Neeraj. Thus the book has many anecdotes. The interviews have been uploaded on YouTube, and then edited and compiled for the book. Filmmaker Brahmanand Singh, who has made documentaries on R.D. Burman and Jagjit Singh, has written the foreword. Says Moti, 'The name S.D. Burman has such a magical effect that it opened all doors for us. Initially, we planned to make a biopic, but it proved to be an expensive proposition. So we ventured into writing this book.' .' The book is divided into various sections featuring musicians, filmmakers, lyricists, composers, singers and other industry personalities. Some articles by musicologists give specific accounts of Burman's life. The back cover carries a quote by son Rahul Dev Burman (Pancham) — 'And now he is indeed gone forever, bequeathing his exalted legacy to me, a monumental legacy I will try my best to carry forward.' Pancham had said this to Ameen Sayani after dada passed away on October 31, 1975.. Some of the most interesting observations come from the musicians and arrangers. Describing Burman's work ethic, rhythm player Ranjit Gazmer says, 'The musicians would come at 9 a.m. and tune their instruments. Dada would come around 10.30 a.m. He did not have any airs, unlike some other composers. His recordings usually got over on time.' Saxophone player and arranger Manohari Singh speaks about how Burman wanted only short interludes in a song. 'He felt that if the interludes were lengthy, nobody would listen to his tunes.' Kersi Lord, arranger and accordion player, describes Burman as 'diplomatic'. He recalls, 'Once a famous tabla player was playing at a very fast pace. We tried to keep up with his tempo. Seeing this, dada told him – 'the rest of the musicians are not as well-prepared as you are. Please go a little slow'.' Lyricist Gopaldas Neeraj, who used to write according to the tunes Burman came up with, says the composer loved experimentation in writing. He cites the examples of the Prem Pujari song 'Phoolon ke rang se', where the mukhda comes after the antara, and the Gambler hit 'Dil aaj shayar'. which had no mukhda. Neeraj adds, 'Before composing, Dada would understand the story, and create music according to the situation. To get to the heart of the scene, he would sometimes enact the role of the actor where the song was to be picturised.' While the book takes readers back in time to the golden period of Hindi film music when melody reigned supreme, the section on singers seems weak. Quotes from Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle would have added more weight to the narration. The section has just singer Poornima Shrestha sharing how Dada encouraged her after the death of her father, tabla artiste Bhola Shrestha. . Lyricist Yogesh Gaur talks at length about the recording of songs for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Mili, when Burman suddenly took ill. Arranger Bablu Chakraborty shares how Dada always closed his eyes while singing, totally unaware of his surroundings. Gulzar was closely associated with both S.D. and R.D. Burman. Though he started his career with the senior Burman in the 1960s, his collaboration with Pancham resulted in some of the finest films and songs of Hindi cinema. Remembering Dada, Gulzar says in the book that he was always impeccably dressed, wearing a well-starched shirt even at home. Many interviewees talk about S.D. Burman's love for paan. According to santoor maestro Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, he would rarely share it, but if he liked someone's work, he would offer paan as a reward. S. D. Burman's songs covered a wide spectrum of emotions. The Monk and His Music through 50 interviews gives an insight into his distinct personality and musical oeuvre. A cultural traveller of sorts, his songs bridged different musical traditions. His song 'Hum hai rahi pyar ke' (Nau do gyarah) sums up his journey.
