Amit Trivedi Recalls Initial Stumbles Behind Dev D and Fearing His Career Was Over

National Award-winning music composer Amit Trivedi recently opened up in a candid interview with film critic Komal Nahta about his unexpected entry into Hindi cinema. Reflecting on his breakout work for Anurag Kashyap’s 2009 cult hit Dev D, Trivedi revealed that the iconic soundtrack almost never saw the light of day.

Trivedi, who was making independent music alongside singer Shilpa Rao at the time, caught Kashyap’s attention through Rao. Kashyap pitched him a modern-day adaptation of Devdas requiring 12 to 15 tracks. Having no prior background in film scoring, a 26-year-old Trivedi watched the earlier screen adaptations starring Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan to grasp the narrative core before composing six tracks over six months.

Overcoming Fear and Shaping the Script

Recalling the nervous moment when he presented his initial compositions to Kashyap and producer Vikas Bahl inside his studio, Trivedi shared: “Trust me, main kaanp raha tha (I was trembling). I feared ki main gaali khaunga and that this would be the first and last film of my career! However, they were so impressed and liked all the songs.”

After hearing additional tracks like ‘Saali Khushi’ and ‘Pardesi’, Kashyap was inspired to rewrite and tweak portions of the script to match the music’s raw energy.

Dev D Put on Hold: How Aamir Became His Debut

Despite the initial creative synergy, the project hit a major roadblock with its backing studio.

“Producer Ronnie Screwvala sir was not keen on making Dev D. So, the film went on hold,” Trivedi revealed.

To keep the young composer engaged while resolving production hurdles, Kashyap redirected him to Raj Kumar Gupta’s Aamir (2008), which Kashyap was producing. As a result, Aamir released first, officially marking Amit Trivedi’s debut as a Bollywood film composer eight months before Dev D finally hit theaters and redefined modern Indian film music.