6 Music Directors Who Made the World Listen to India, and the One Playing for Prince William

Quick question. When did the world last stop and listen to India?

Not watch. Listen.

Because it keeps happening. An Oscar here, a Grammy there, a melody you hear at a checkout in a country you have never been to. And almost every time, there is an Indian music director behind it whose name you only half know.

So with Prince William's Earthshot Prize landing in Mumbai on 17 November, I made a list. Six music directors who made the world turn its head. The last one is playing that night. (Here is the full Earthshot lineup, if you have not seen it yet.)

6. Ravi Shankar: the one who started the conversation

Before anyone said "world music", there was Ravi Shankar. He scored Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, taught George Harrison the sitar and walked Indian classical music into Woodstock and the Beatles' world. His score for Gandhi earned an Oscar nomination. Every name below owes him a little.

5. A.R. Rahman: the one who made it mainstream

Two Oscars in one night for Slumdog Millionaire. "Jai Ho" on every dance floor on the planet. Rahman proved Indian film music did not need translating. It just needed to be heard.

4. M.M. Keeravani: the one who made the Oscars dance

"Naatu Naatu" from RRR won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2023, and for one night the entire Dolby Theatre was doing a Telugu hook step. Honestly? Peak internet.

3. Ricky Kej: the one who made music about the planet

A multiple Grammy winner who has spent years using music to talk about climate and nature, including work with the United Nations. If any music director has been rehearsing for an Earthshot week, it is him. He shows that "environmental music" is not a niche. It is a career.

2. Shashwat Sachdev: the one closing Earthshot night

A two-time National Award winner with a big, cinematic sound. On 17 November he closes the Earthshot Awards Night with music from his catalogue, Shades of Cashmere. That is the finale slot in front of 5,000 guests and a global Prime Video audience. Big.

1. Music Director Merlin D'Souza: the one you have already heard without knowing it

Okay. This is the one I have been waiting to write.

Do you know the little melody that plays when a Mastercard payment goes through? That sound heard at checkouts all over the world? Music Director Merlin D'Souza is a Founding Partner and Music Director at BrandMusiq, the sonic branding studio behind Mastercard's global sonic identity. The same sound that sound-branding agency amp ranked the world's best audio brand every year from 2020 to 2024.

Let that sink in. You have probably heard her work this week. Maybe today. Maybe while buying the coffee you are holding right now.

And that is just one door into her career. She played, arranged and conducted on Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (we went deep on that K3G story here). She led the Hindi music for Disney's The Lion King. She has played the Taj Mahal, the Blue Note in New York, and composed 'We Are One' for Make in India in front of heads of state. Through BrandMusiq, she is also part of the sound of HDFC Bank and 7UP.

On 17 November, she brings all of that to the Earthshot stage in Mumbai. If you missed it, here is how this whole story started.

Why this list matters right now

Earthshot is coming to India to celebrate people who change the world quietly and at scale. Music directors are exactly that. They sit in the small print of the credits while their sound travels further than any of us ever will.

So on 17 November, when the cameras find Prince William and Karan Johar, listen out for the music too. Some of the most famous sound in the world was written in Mumbai.

Vishal Waghela is the Co-Founder of AltBollywood and a proud neo-generalist who refuses to pick a lane. Film, music, memes, fashion, AI, internet subcultures: if pop culture touches it, he's already three rabbit holes deep. He writes the way he lives online, loud, emotional, a little chaotic and always honest about why culture makes us feel things. Come argue with him on Instagram at @vishal.waghe1a