Ram Sampath

Ram Sampath
Ram Sampath at the Loreal Paris Femina Women Awards 2014.
Background information
Born	1977 (age 39–40) Mumbai
Genres	Rock music
Occupation(s)	music director, composer, record producer, Singer
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Various
Associated acts	INXS, Justin Timberlake,
Website	www.ramsampath.com

Ram Sampath (born 25 July 1977) is an Indian composer, music producer and musician, who started his career composing advertising jingles for Mumbai-based advertising industry, subsequently he started composing for pop albums like Tanha Dil (2000) by Shaan, before composing for films like Delhi Belly (2011), Talaash (2012) and recently he composed excellent music for Raees, which released in 2017.

He has composed music for advertising jingles for brands like Airtel, Docomo, Thums Up, Pepsi and the Times of India.

Born to a Tamilian father and Kannadiga mother, Sampath grew up in Chembur, Mumbai where he did his schooling from OLPS High School. Both his parents were musically inclined, while his grandfather TV Ramanujam, was one of the founder of Shanmukhananda Hall, a cultural centre in Sion, Mumbai, established in 1952. Thus his ancestral house, was frequented by leading musicians and singers of Carnatic music. Later on, he too learnt Carnatic music for eight years. After his schooling he studied commerce at Podar College, Mumbai, where he played keyboard in a rock band.

Over the years, he has composed advertising jingles for brands like Airtel, Docomo, Thums Up, Pepsi and the Times of India, for which he composed the theme song for the "I Lead India" campaign in 2013.

In 2008, he collaborated with the Australian rock band INXS to record Indian version of their songs, God's Top Ten, Devil's Party, and Afterglow. Also in 2008, the Bombay High Court ruled that two songs from the film, Krazzy 4, including the title track "Krazzy4" and "Break-free" plagiarised the "hook-phrase" from an advertisement previously composed by Sampath for Sony Ericsson. The court ordered a stay on film's release with the two songs. Subsequently, the case was settled out-of-court after producers paid Sampath ₹20 million (US$300,000), and film was released along with the songs. However the judgment was seen by "landmark decision" by legal commentators, as it set a new precedent in the Indian film industry, often plagued with plagiarism. In 2012, he composed the highly popular title track "Tera Rang Aisa" of the debut talkshow Satyamev Jayate hosted by Aamir Khan, it had lyrics by Prasoon Joshi.