The Pahadi voice and composer behind some of Hindi cinema and streaming's most memorable music, finally stepping out from behind the credits.

The Pahadi voice and composer behind some of Hindi cinema and streaming's most memorable music, finally stepping out from behind the credits. AT A GLANCE Abhishek Nailwal is a music composer, songwriter and singer whose roots are in Uttarakhand's Kumaon hills. He composed the music for Made in India: A Titan Story (Amazon MX Player, 2026) and Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy (ZEE5, 2022). He also wrote, composed and sang "Mashoor" and "Sahi Hai" for Fukrey 3. As a singer, he is one of the voices on the Shamshera title track alongside Sukhwinder Singh, and on "Badass Babuaa" from Bareilly Ki Barfi, a song listeners still write to him about. He is now working on a Kumaoni folk EP, bringing the music of the hills he grew up hearing to a new generation. PROFILE Some people plan a career in music. Abhishek Nailwal's found him outside a Delhi cinema. He grew up as an Army child, moving from state to state and absorbing a new culture in every posting. Music was the one constant at home. His mother noticed his voice early and pushed him onto stages and into competitions. The house was full of ghazals by Farida Khanum, Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hassan, and of Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi, whom his father loved. Then came the first time he heard Michael Jackson's Thriller, and, as he puts it, "the game was over for me." He and his sister made tapes on the family recorder, and his grandmother's home hosted jam nights that stretched late. The turning point was almost filmy. In his first year of college, just after exams, he was playing guitar late at night outside the Priya cinema in Delhi. A stranger walking out of the last show joined the jam and gave him a phone number. It belonged to composer Sameer Uddin. That meeting led to Abhishek's first studio recording, and the moment he walked into that studio he knew this was it. Years of work followed, much of it behind the scenes: music production, ad jingles, and scratch vocals for songs that went on to become hits in other people's voices. "It humbles you," he says. "You realise there are things in life, and you have to flow." His voice reached millions through campaigns like Airtel's "Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai" and Pepsi's "Youngistaan Meri Jaan". His film work as a singer includes Shamshera (the title track and "Parinda" with Sukhwinder Singh, music by Mithoon), Bareilly Ki Barfi, Kaalakaandi (with Vishal Dadlani on "Aa Bhi Jaa") and Junglee. Today he leads as a composer. He scored the 1965 war era spy thriller Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy, created both its songs and its background score, and most recently scored Made in India: A Titan Story, the Jim Sarbh and Naseeruddin Shah docudrama on the making of Titan, with each of its six episodes running close to an hour. The hills have always been in his music, even when he wasn't trying. His grandfather was a Hindi and Kumaoni poet and writer, and poetry ran through the women of his family. Collaborators have long told him they hear "a Pahadi touch" in his compositions without him intending it. His upcoming Kumaoni folk EP is where he stops hiding it. SELECTED CREDITS As composer ▪ Made in India: A Titan Story | Amazon MX Player, June 2026 | Music ▪ Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy | ZEE5, November 2022 | Songs and background score ▪ Fukrey 3 (2023) | "Mashoor" (composer, singer, co lyricist with Mrighdeep Singh Lamba) and "Sahi Hai" (composer, lyricist, singer) As singer ▪ Shamshera (2022) | Title track and "Parinda", with Sukhwinder Singh, music by Mithoon ▪ Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017) | "Badass Babuaa", with Neha Bhasin and Sameer Uddin ▪ Kaalakaandi (2018) | "Jive With Me"; "Aa Bhi Jaa" with Vishal Dadlani ▪ Junglee (2019) | "Garje Gajraj Hamara" Advertising ▪ Airtel "Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai" ▪ Pepsi "Youngistaan Meri Jaan"