Wayne Sharpe: American composer in Bollywood

Every Bollywood era produces one or two patriotic hit songs that become staples at local Independence Day celebrations for years to come, and "Dhan Dhan Dharti", the theme of "Raajneeti", looks well on the way to continuing this tradition. 

But what sets the recently released film apart is that its theme song was crafted by American composer Wayne Sharpe.

Sharpe has some help, of course, with legendary lyricst Gulzar's penmanship set to a score performed by a European orchestra and sung by Shankar Mahadevan (and another version by Sonu Niigam).

The background score for "Raajneeti" is NYC-based composer Wayne Sharpe’s third project with Indian filmmaker Prakash Jha. He previously provided scores for Jha's "Apaharan" and "Gangaajal", and has won a Filmfare award for the latter. "Raajneeti" is a study on Indian politics described by audiences as a cross between the Godfather and the Mahabharata.

We met the talented and unassuming composer at his lovely sea-view room in Juhu's Novotel Hotel in Mumbai, a place he's called home for more than a month now.

CNNGo: How did the opportunity to compose a patriotic Indian song in Hindi for "Raajneeti" come about? 

Wayne Sharpe: Prakash was at my studio in New York and we were figuring out the background score for "Raajneeti". He explained the significance of the patriotic "Vande Mataram" song and we spoke about creating a score loosely based on it. He returned to India and I flew down later in February with the theme, Gulzar heard it and liked it instantly. We decided to have lyrics in it and that's how "Dhan Dhan Dharti" came to be.