Music composer-singer Sneha Khanwalkar — the creator of popular hit numbers like O Womaniya, Chhi-Chha Ledar and Keh Ke Lunga — is ready to drop a single with Qawwali singer Altaf Raja of Tum To Thehre Pardesi fame. The mind behind the sound of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Gangs of Wasseypur and LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha, Sneha tells us why she chose to be in a ‘slower zone’ and the recent collaboration between Pocket FM and SoundCake, her platform for sound artists.
What made you collaborate with SoundCake and Pocket FM?
Sneha Khanwalkar: Pocket FM and I are collaborating on the campaign, which will be powered by SoundCake (www.soundcake.io). This platform connects the global creative community to professional opportunities from the industry. As a musician, I have always believed in the transformative power of collective creativity. The opportunity to collaborate with Pocket FM on creating the world’s first crowdsourced sonic tune truly resonates with SoundCake’s core philosophy that ‘creativity has no boundaries’. Music is a universal language that connects people across cultures, and Pocket FM’s listener-first approach aligns perfectly with my vision of music as a medium for connection.
What do you hope to achieve by mentoring the new generation of music creators and sound artists?
Sneha Khanwalkar: My primary goal is to unlock the incredible potential within our creative community. Through this project, I aim to inspire aspiring artists by showing them that their voices truly matter and that innovation in sound can emerge from anywhere. By personally curating the top entries and collaborating with the winning creator, I want to illustrate how professional expertise can harmoniously blend with fresh perspectives to produce something extraordinary.
Can you talk about your association with recent key projects such as Girls Will Be Girls and Dev Patel’s Monkey Man?
Sneha Khanwalkar: Yes, in Girls Will Be Girls, there is only one song, which I did. In Monkey Man, I worked on a couple of tracks. I did the background score of Despatch (ZEE5), and the background score and a couple of songs for CTRL (Netflix). I also did music for Schirkoa: In Lies, We Trust, a French-German animated film made by an Indian director.
For Monkey Man, I got a call from Dev Patel (actor-director), who must have found out about me. He briefed me. The score was already done, so they wanted tracks. For Girls Will Be Girls, I met director Suchi Talati with (the film’s producer) Richa Chadha, who’s a dear friend. We made our debut together in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, so when she made this film, she told me that I must do it. I have also worked on Manto, Tabbar, Dhindora and many advertisement commercials.
You added a fresh sound to mainstream Bollywood music in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Gangs of Wasseypur, LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha, and MTV Sound Trippin and also worked on many international projects but you don’t talk enough for your work…
Sneha Khanwalkar: (Smiles) I have been in a slower kind of a zone. When big projects like Gangs of Wasseypur and Sound Trippin happen, people end up calling me for that kind of work. I didn’t aspire to do bigger films for fame. I have never done PR. I would rather not go anywhere. It looks like I haven’t done much but now and then, I do interesting projects which have been extremely rewarding. I have a five-year-old. Now that my child has grown up a bit, I will have time to invest in music. Also, I love to travel a lot. I want to do everything rather than just be a goal-oriented individual. I need to get inspired also. I haven’t done trendy singles though I am not averse to them but one needs to know how to do it well.
Do you plan to come up with a single?
Sneha Khanwalkar: I will honestly say when I have something to say.
Live concerts, performances and multi-city tours within India have become a cool thing for singers and musicians. What is your take on it?
Sneha Khanwalkar: It is nice that the industry is flourishing. The louder and the shinier will get prominence but the small and mid-level will also get a new life. The quality will get better and things will get organised. When films are stalled because of budget cut-downs, artists suffer the most, so they can entertain the audience with live performances. I have just started performing live with my songs, folk numbers and international songs. We are planning a tour and discussing a bunch of details.
You collaborated with your filmmaker husband Kanu Behl for the Manoj Bajpayee-starrer film Despatch streaming on ZEE5…
Sneha Khanwalkar: Funnily, like me, Kanu also made his debut with Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! as he was assisting director Dibakar Banerjee at that time and later, he wrote LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha. We got together 10 years later after meeting again and we have worked on projects such as his short film Binnu Ka Sapna. In Despatch, he was very good, and I am not biased but he was very clear. He allows you not to fall into the preconceived notion or give reference to films. He lets you work with whatever you have. My team and I had a great time.
Is there any musician you want to collaborate with?
Sneha Khanwalkar: Ganavya (a Tamil Nadu-raised and New York-born vocalist) has an ethereal voice. I found her on social media. She lives in the US. She has her own singing style. Also, I will drop a single with Altaf Raja (the Indian Qawwali singer who shot to fame with his album Tum To Thehre Pardesi). I want to bring him back. It looks all nice and bright again and I am interested in saying something.
Since your early days, you have had an individual sense of fashion. It looks like you do it yourself.
Sneha Khanwalkar: Yes, I mostly do it myself. For very important events or live shows, I need an expert stylist but I am not an actor that must look good all the time. The kind of music I do – it has got elements of electronica and a rustic street vibe to it - I can wear anything. I follow my heart too much!
