Jul 19, 2026 11:33am IST
Shashwat Sachdev on Winning Second National Award for ‘Article 370’ After ‘Uri’: ‘This Time I’m Receiving It With More Gratitude’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Composer Shashwat Sachdev is on a generational run of sorts. He won his first National Award for 2019’s “Uri: The Surgical Strike.” “Article 370” (2024) marks his second win. Over the past year or so, he’s given hits with “The Ba****ds Of Bollywood,” “Dhurandhar” and “Dhurandhar: The Revenge.” With his second National Award win, it also sets him on a hat-trick with “Dhurandhar” in all likelihood, winning him his third. And if it does, it will be a record of winning with the same person in his corner: Aditya Dhar.
Speaking exclusively to Variety India, the passionate Sachdev takes in the moment, what it means to him and how he will celebrate if “Dhurandhar” wins the next year.
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What does it mean to have won this for the second time, both times for Aditya Dhar films? First ‘Uri,’ now ‘Article 370’. Next year for ‘Dhurandhar’?
Awards are funny. They arrive on one particular day, but they make you revisit so many years at once. When “Uri” happened, I was so overwhelmed that I don’t think I fully understood what that moment would come to mean in my life. This time, with “Article 370,” I’m receiving it with a little more stillness and a lot more gratitude.
Aditya is a brother to me, so working with him has always been deeply personal. We have grown through these films together, and to be recognised twice for music that came out of that trust is incredibly moving. Somewhere inside, I still feel like the same boy sitting in a studio, trying to find the most honest note for a scene.
And “Dhurandhar” next year? [Laughs] I’ll just smile at that and quietly go back to work.
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The one song from the soundtrack that came to mind when you heard the news?
It was “Dua”, immediately. The moment I heard the news, I was back in the studio, recording it with Jubin [Nautiyal], and I could see Aditya Jambhale, our director, standing there and simply grooving to the song. It was such a small, happy memory, but it returned to me so clearly that I could almost see the room again.
I couldn’t hold myself back from calling him. I told him, “It honestly feels like we recorded it only yesterday evening.” That is the beautiful thing about music. A moment may pass, but the song keeps it alive somewhere, and then one day it quietly brings the whole memory back to you.
Have you spoken to Aditya Dhar yet? What was the first thing he said to you?
Yes, we spoke. He gave me so much love, which he always does. The first thing he told me was that he truly takes pride in my work.
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