Ashutosh Phatak is an Indian rock artist and composer and one of the founders of the popular music venue blueFROG. He has composed background scores for many films including HELP, White Noise, Snip!, Bombay Boys, Zubaan and Whispers, and has released three albums: Sigh of an Angel, The Psychic Plumber and Other Lies and The Petri Dish Project.
Coming from an aristocratic, Chitpavan brahmin background with a well mapped pedigree, Phatak is also a 2nd cousin, 1x removed of late business magnate Dnyaneshwar Agashe and a 3rd cousin of his sons, cricketer Ashutosh Agashe, music director Mandar Agashe (3rd cousin, once removed of his son, Adi Agashé) and daughter, actress Sheetal Agashe.
Phatak has a dual degree in Economics and Western Classical Music Theory from the University of Pennsylvania.
Phatak began his musical foray as a member of a band called Orphean Revival in the 90s, and as co-founder and senior managing director of The True School of Music in Mumbai, he partnered with The Manhattan School of Music in New York, to bring in an international professional faculty and integrated state of the art facilities to provide a contemporary musical learning experience in Mumbai.
One of the leading figures in Indian contemporary music, Ashu (as he is popularly known) has been a much-sought-after composer and producer for the past 15 years. He is an award-winning multi-instrumental music composer and producer, who has released over 15 contemporary music albums in the past two decades. He is one of the most sought-after composers in advertising and films, having composed music for over 3,000 television commercials and the soundtracks for 10 feature films.
For his score of Fire in the Blood, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Phatak received critical acclaim. David Rooney, writing for the Hollywood Reporter said that the film was: "Crisply shot and edited, with effective use of Phatak’s graceful music". Mark Adams, the chief film critic at Screen Daily acclaimed: "Fire In The Blood is a smartly film made that hits all of the rights notes – intellectually and emotionally – making good use of Ashutosh Phatak’s gentle music".
Phatak was also nominated in the World Cinema category at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2013.
In 2007, Phatak co-founded the live music venue blueFROG in Mumbai and Delhi, slog side composer-musicians Dhruv Ghanekar, film director Mahesh Mathai, film producer Srila Chatterjee and fund manager Simran Mulchandani.
In 2013, Phatak found the True School of Music, a professional music academy in Mumbai.[6] The main objective of the school, according to the founders was "not to create music prodigies or great rock bands, but to train professionals for a career in music composition for advertising, television and films." The school received positive media attention for being "a new, contemporary music school in Mumbai which would prepare music students for the real world".
Ashutosh Phatak is an Indian rock artist and composer and one of the founders of the popular music venue blueFROG. He has composed background scores for many films including HELP, White Noise, Snip!, Bombay Boys, Zubaan and Whispers, and has released three albums: Sigh of an Angel, The Psychic Plumber and Other Lies and The Petri Dish Project.
Coming from an aristocratic, Chitpavan brahmin background with a well mapped pedigree, Phatak is also a 2nd cousin, 1x removed of late business magnate Dnyaneshwar Agashe and a 3rd cousin of his sons, cricketer Ashutosh Agashe, music director Mandar Agashe (3rd cousin, once removed of his son, Adi Agashé) and daughter, actress Sheetal Agashe.
Phatak has a dual degree in Economics and Western Classical Music Theory from the University of Pennsylvania.
Phatak began his musical foray as a member of a band called Orphean Revival in the 90s, and as co-founder and senior managing director of The True School of Music in Mumbai, he partnered with The Manhattan School of Music in New York, to bring in an international professional faculty and integrated state of the art facilities to provide a contemporary musical learning experience in Mumbai.
One of the leading figures in Indian contemporary music, Ashu (as he is popularly known) has been a much-sought-after composer and producer for the past 15 years. He is an award-winning multi-instrumental music composer and producer, who has released over 15 contemporary music albums in the past two decades. He is one of the most sought-after composers in advertising and films, having composed music for over 3,000 television commercials and the soundtracks for 10 feature films.
For his score of Fire in the Blood, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Phatak received critical acclaim. David Rooney, writing for the Hollywood Reporter said that the film was: "Crisply shot and edited, with effective use of Phatak’s graceful music". Mark Adams, the chief film critic at Screen Daily acclaimed: "Fire In The Blood is a smartly film made that hits all of the rights notes – intellectually and emotionally – making good use of Ashutosh Phatak’s gentle music".
Phatak was also nominated in the World Cinema category at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2013.
In 2007, Phatak co-founded the live music venue blueFROG in Mumbai and Delhi, slog side composer-musicians Dhruv Ghanekar, film director Mahesh Mathai, film producer Srila Chatterjee and fund manager Simran Mulchandani.
In 2013, Phatak found the True School of Music, a professional music academy in Mumbai.[6] The main objective of the school, according to the founders was "not to create music prodigies or great rock bands, but to train professionals for a career in music composition for advertising, television and films." The school received positive media attention for being "a new, contemporary music school in Mumbai which would prepare music students for the real world".