The 72nd National Film Awards were announced on Saturday evening, and brought in a lot of surprises as well as deserved recognitions. Composer Shashwat Sachdev won the National Award for Best Music Direction for Article 370. Calling it a moment of gratitude more than personal triumph, Shashwat tells us this achievement belongs equally to the people who believed in him long before the recognition came.
“I would dedicate this award to my parents and my guru, Ustad Ramzan Khan Sahab, without a second thought. Long before there was any recognition, they believed in the life I wanted to build through music. They made sacrifices, many of which I probably understood only much later, so that I could learn, practise and become a musician,” he tells us.
Calling the award a collective achievement, he adds, “An award may have one person’s name on it, but the journey behind it is rarely one person’s alone. This belongs to them as much as it belongs to me. I just hope that, through my work and the way I live my life, I can continue to make them proud.”
The win came as a complete surprise for Sachdev, who was travelling overseas when the announcement was made. “Honestly, I did not expect it at all. I was on a flight to Europe for a recording, completely unaware of what was happening back home. When I landed, I saw 18 missed calls from my wife. Thankfully, she had also left me a message saying, ‘Don’t worry, it’s happy news,’ because 18 missed calls can make your mind go to some very frightening places!” His wife was also the first person to break the news to him. “I remember feeling surprised before anything else. It took a little time for the news to settle in. Then, of course, there was an immense sense of happiness and gratitude.”
The moment became even more special as Article 370 was also named Best Feature Film at the National Film Awards. “A film is built by so many people carrying the same belief, and this recognition felt like a celebration of the entire team,” he explains, adding: “I see an award as a beautiful moment of appreciation, but never as an individual achievement. It carries within it the sacrifices of your family, the faith of your collaborators and the work of an entire team that allowed you to do your best.”
Crediting filmmaker Aditya Dhar for giving him the creative freedom to shape the film’s soundscape, he adds, “I feel incredibly fortunate that Aditya Dhar gave me the space to express myself through a story of this scale and significance. The National Award is a great honour, but the real reward is knowing that the music stayed with people. That is what I hope to keep earning, one piece of work at a time.”
He adds, “I have always believed that you are only as good as your last piece of work. So I do not want an award to become a place where I stop and admire myself for too long. I would rather allow it to make me more responsible, more curious and perhaps a little braver about the work I choose next.”
For the composer, however, the biggest reward has been the audience’s response to his work. “The most honest form of success is still the love of the audience. What happened with the score of Article 370 was especially moving because it was not initially released, and I began receiving hundreds of messages from people asking where they could listen to it. That kind of response is deeply humbling. It tells you that something you created quietly in a studio has travelled into someone else’s life.”
Reflecting on his journey, Sachdev says, “I came into cinema with no inheritance and only a deep love for music, so this National Award feels like a beautiful pause to look back at every uncertain day, every quiet sacrifice, and every person who stood by me before there was anything to celebrate. I share this with my family, my team, and especially Aditya Dhar, whose faith in me has shaped so much of this journey. The love I have received lately has been deeply moving, and this honour makes me feel grateful for everyone who helped me become the artist I am still becoming.”