Musicians Roundtable | Anupama Chopra | The Hollywood Reporter India | Presented By District

In The Hollywood Reporter India's Musicians Roundtable 2025, editor Anupama Chopra brings together five of Indian music's most compelling voices for an intimate conversation about creativity, success, and the soul of songwriting. Lyricist Irshad Kamil, the poet behind Rockstar and Saiyaara, reflects on the pressure of writing for multiple stakeholders while staying true to his craft. Kashmiri singer-songwriter Faheem Abdullah opens up about his meteoric rise from anonymity to becoming the voice of the year's biggest romantic hit. Film composer Jakes Bejoy discusses his terrain-based approach to scoring, from Lokah's 2,000-year-old protagonist to the tribal sounds of his Malayalam projects.

Singer and actress Shruti Haasan speaks candidly about the algorithm's stranglehold on artists and her refusal to become a "circus animal" dancing on reels, while playback singer Madhubanti Bagchi shares how extreme success left her feeling out of place and needing a year to mentally adjust to sudden fame. The conversation traverses the blurred lines between film and independent music, the irreplaceable rush of live performance, and what it truly means to measure success in an era of streaming numbers and viral trends. From Irshad's revelation that his greatest joy comes when strangers unknowingly sing his lyrics, to Faheem's emotional journey watching Saiyaara in Kashmir with tears in his eyes, to Jakes crediting divine inspiration for his compositions—this roundtable captures five artists at the peak of their powers, vulnerably discussing the craft that defines them.