Ajay Ashok Gogavale (R) & Atul Ashok Gogavale (L) |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Ajay Atul |
Born | 21 August 1976 (Ajay) & 11 September 1974 (Atul) |
Genres | marathi film music |
Occupation(s) | Music director, Composer, Music arranger, Programmer, Conductor, Song writer, Playback singers, Producer , Actor , Director, Sticker |
Years active | 2000–present |
Website | http://www.ajayatul.com |
Ajay-Atul (Marathi: अजय-अतुल) is the music alias of Indian music director-composer duo of brothers Ajay and Atul Gogavale. In 2008, Ajay-Atul won the Best Music Direction award at the 56th National Film Awards from the Government of India for contributing music to the Marathi film Jogwa. The pair made their debut on the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List securing a position of 82. They are first Indian music director to record their music at Sony scoring studios in Hollywood for marathi movie Sairat.|
Ajay and Atul Gogavale were born to Ashok Gogavale, a Revenue Department officer in Alandi in Pune. Both were born in Pune and brought up in several villages in western Maharashtra, including Rajgurunagar, Junnar, Shirur, as their father had a transferable job. Atul was born on 11 September 1974 and Ajay, his younger brother, born 21 August 1976. They started their career by DHOL TASHA in Ganeshutsav in Pune.
In their childhood, they were not much attracted towards academics. But their interest in music developed while they were still in school. Around this time, they started experimenting with music. In an NCC competition, Ajay played an existing composition differently, and they won the prize for their experiment. This instance inspired them to explore their music potential.
They did not have a musical background. Although they were not supported by their family directly for music, they were never denied any assistance. As their family could not afford the instruments for their musical endeavours, they started their musical ventures through their school, temples, local bands etc. Despite not getting direct training, they learnt a lot from these ventures. They would befriend people who owned instruments like harmoniums, mridang, dhol etc., since they could not afford them on their own. Later, while at college, they started working with local bands as arrangers. Their father bought them a keyboard on their mother's insistence. This proved to be one of their greatest gifts. Their father said, "You have not been given any toys during childhood, now this is your toy." This inspired them and they started experimenting. Later, they came to Mumbai and started working on an international non-film music album "Vishwavinayaka". This proved to be a big break for them and paved the way for their foray into the Indian (mostly Marathi) music industry. They worked on many commercial jingles, ballets and advertisements to strengthen their profile.