Behind the Viral Veena Hook ‘Dhurandhar’: Meet Carnatic Musician Ramana Balachandran

A classic veena interlude in Dhurandharis is making waves.

Featured in singer Arijit Singh’s ‘Phir Se’ in the recent Ranveer Singh starrer Bollywood superhit, this impressive instrumental track is recreated on social media in Reels and is receiving praise from music lovers.

The man behind the interlude is Tiruvannamalai-based Ramana Balachandran, a fast-rising musician who is already popular in Chennai’s kutcheri circuit. “It happened quite by accident,” recalls Ramana, “Shashwat bhai (music director) followed my work on Instagram and we connected through a mutual friend. The Dhurandhar team was warm and asked me not to forget that it was a bittersweet situation. I played some random stuff and we threw in an interlude. It would be nice if we were given that much musical freedom to express it.”

Raman, a musician who has largely shied away from film work despite offers, has been catapulted by Dhurandharouting to the national stage, where more popular music directors seek his input in their compositions. “When a piece touches people deeply, it’s very satisfying. To see such a short interlude resonate with people from different backgrounds gave me joy. I’m very interested in the technical aspects of recording and mixing; in fact, the microphone was held 2.5 feet above the instrument, which was new to me.”

Ramana Balachandran, at his Tiruvannamalai residence. Photo credit: Thamodharan B

Musical beginnings

The story of this young musician begins in Bengaluru where he grew up with parents who were both passionate about music. His father was interested in singing and his mother played the veena, Raman’s childhood was full of music. “I would watch full episodes of Super Singer and make my father sing kaapi (raga) at home,” he recalls. Ramana enrolled in mridangam lessons when he was a toddler, when music was still, as he describes it, “a shallow hobby”.

The big break came when he was nine when young Ramana caught the bug while his mother Sharanya was playing the veena. “She was playing ‘Saadhinchane’ (one of the five celebrated Pancharatna Kritis of Saint Thyagaraja),” he recalls, “I kept telling her she got one particular phrase wrong, even though I couldn’t play it myself.”

This particular comment from her young child made the mother sit up and take notice. Soon, Ramana was enrolled in veena lessons – under B Nagalakshmi – and made rapid strides in them, even as he juggled mridangam sessions, vocal classes and school.

Amidst all these rapid changes, Raman’s household moved lock, stock and barrel from Bengaluru to Tiruvannamalai, a decision that influenced his cultural and musical understanding in ways he could barely understand at the time. “My father was tired of his corporate life and wanted to live a slower life in a smaller town. He also wanted me not to fall into the herd instinct that doesn’t give you time to even find what you really love,” she says.

In Tiruvannamalai, although educated at home in a residence barely a stone’s throw from one of the state’s most important temples, Raman’s life became more about music and spirituality. “Here we see so many people who have given up their lives of luxury and are doing such quality work without making a big fuss about it. Watching it all up close has inspired me deeply.”

Ramana Balachandran Photo Credit: S Shiva Raj

Another track

Today, Ramana is extremely comfortable in the classical music space, but he is still making baby steps in the film music space. “There’s a lot of emphasis in film music on an emotional appeal that may or may not exist in classical music. In old film music the emphasis was on melody, whereas today it’s on arrangement and sound. Both are interesting to me and I try to include both in my work: how do we push the boundaries of what we’re doing without sounding cringeworthy?”

Currently, the 24-year-old is on a mission: not only to package classical music and make it available to the public, but also to promote the richness of the veena aura landscape.

“My priority is not films because I am first and foremost a Carnatic Vainika and I feel there is an ocean of work to immerse myself in,” says Ramana, whose latest exploration revolves around ragam Shanmukhapriya. forms of music.

Published – 14 May 2026 07:07 IST