Dhruv Ghanekar’s musical journey began with a bang — quite literally — when his gritty, genre-defying track “Mumbhai” from the cult film Bombay Boys (1998) crashed onto the scene. Long before "fusion" became a marketing term, Dhruv was blending rock, funk, electronica, and Indian grooves with irreverent swagger and a producer's precision. That early anthem didn’t just open ears — it kicked open the doors of indie possibility in India.

Since then, Dhruv has carved one of the most eclectic and ambitious careers in contemporary Indian music.

As a composer and producer, he has scored over 4000 commercials and a wide range of films, OTT series, and theatrical works. His client list reads like a Fortune 100 playlist — Nike, Google, Samsung, BBC, Absolut, Saudi Tourism, Emirates — and his music has won top honours at Cannes Lions, Clio, D&AD, Spikes Asia, London International Awards, and multiple GIMA and Kyoorius awards. His debut as a Bollywood film composer (Drona, 2008) earned him a Stardust Award for Outstanding Debut and a Mirchi Music Award for Best Upcoming Composer.

In 2007, he co-founded blueFrog — the iconic music venue and label that didn’t just host music, it rewired it. As Artistic Director, Dhruv helped program and shape a space that brought international acts like Angelique Kidjo, John McLaughlin, and Imogen Heap to Indian audiences, while nurturing a generation of homegrown talent. The venue became the beating heart of India’s indie music revolution — part studio, part sanctuary, part war room — and it changed the game permanently.

As a guitarist, Dhruv has toured globally and collaborated with musical titans like Richard Bona, Raul Midón, and Trilok Gurtu. He’s equally at home in a jazz trio, a stadium stage, or a dusty field recording Manganiyar vocalists — often within the same month.

His latest album Voyage 2 (2023) is a sprawling, celebratory exploration of global sound — featuring Ila Arun, Kalpana Patowary, Ustad Taufiq Qureshi, Tim Lefebvre, and Mohini Dey. Submitted for Grammy consideration in nine categories, the album blends Rajasthani folk, African polyrhythms, jazz, and low-end funk into a sound both ancient and futuristic.

In 2023, Dhruv also released Mumbai Star, a Bollywood-style musical that sold out its Japan tour. Scored across 19 tracks with a cast of top Indian vocalists, the project combines classical kathak, hip-hop, ballads, and high-octane dance numbers — all wrapped in Dhruv’s signature production sheen.

Coming up: a poetic, climactic track in the highly anticipated action film Tehran, and a new feature collaboration with director Anurag Kashyap — a pairing as unexpected as it is exciting.

From the smoky clubs of early blueFrog to the orchestral halls of Prague to Netflix thrillers and Grammy ballots, Dhruv Ghanekar remains a musical shapeshifter — equally restless and rooted.

Call it fusion, call it global, call it post-genre.

He just calls it music.