Ranjit Thakur
thakur.ranjit3@gmail.com
There are artists who find their path early-and then there are those whose path finds them. For Kanish Sharma, composer, music director, and artist from Jammu, the journey to Pal Ye Mera has been exactly that.
Sharma left Jammu for Mumbai with a dream of becoming a singer. What the city gave him instead was perspective. He discovered gaps in his understanding, immersed himself in learning, and gradually evolved from an aspiring vocalist into one of the more quietly accomplished music directors working across Indian film and advertising today. It was not the plan, but it became the foundation.
Born in Rajouri and raised in Jammu, Sharma received his early grounding in music under the guidance of P N Raina, with strong encouragement from his family. After studying at LPU, he moved to Mumbai in 2011 to train under the legendary Suresh Wadkar. Over time, Mumbai became his second home, even as Jammu remained his emotional anchor.
His professional journey spans over a decade. His first major break came in 2014 with Babloo Happy Hai, leading to collaborations with National Award-winning filmmakers on projects like Kaun Kitney Paani Mein, Gone Kesh, and others. His short film Almari Ka Achaar travelled to international festivals, winning the German Star of India at Stuttgart, Germany, and earning appreciation across Europe and the United States. Across films, web series, and digital projects, Sharma has steadily built a body of work defined by range and consistency.
Along the way, he has collaborated with Shankar Mahadevan, Mika Singh, and Harshdeep Kaur, and his work has earned nominations across awards and film festivals.
Beyond the screen, Sharma has composed for more than 200 advertising campaigns, lending his musical instinct to some of the country’s most recognised brands and institutions, including RBI, Union Bank, AIIMS, IIT, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Honda, among others. He has also made his mark internationally with projects including Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and work in South Africa, reflecting a creative footprint that extends well beyond Indian borders.
Through all of it, what has defined Sharma’s work is not any single quality, but the consistency of his sensibilities across every format and scale. Whether composing for a feature film, a festival short, or an international campaign, his work carries a distinct emotional intelligence and cinematic depth that is hard to manufacture. At the heart of it all remains melody-that quiet, instinctive emotional current that makes a listener feel something before they can explain why. That standard is reflected in the team he has built around himself as well, one that includes some of the country’s finest artists and collaborators, bringing the same level of craft and commitment to every project he takes on.
Because with this song, Sharma is no longer composing for someone else’s story. He is finally telling his own. Pal Ye Mera is his debut indie single, and it carries the weight of everything that came before it. Shot across Nathatop, Patnitop, Kud, Surinsar, Nagrota and Jammu city, the music video draws deeply from the landscapes of Jammu & Kashmir-not as a scenic backdrop, but as an emotional language. These are the places that shaped him; they are part of the song’s meaning, not just its setting.
The project reflects a rich creative collaboration. The video has been directed and shot by award-winning Mumbai-based director-cinematographer Raakesh Rawat, while also drawing on local cast and crew from the region. Mridul Raj Anand, known for his work in television and film, features in the video and has co-written the lyrics. Music arrangement has been handled by Shubhdeep Singh, with contributions from Aashima Dutta and Satvik Gupta, further grounding the project in its local creative identity.
The project has also received support and encouragement from the J&K Administration, Tourism, and Jammu Municipal Corporation. With Pal Ye Mera, Sharma arrives at a moment that feels both inevitable and deeply personal-the singer who became a music director, returning to sing. The artist who spent years giving voice to others is now stepping forward with his own. For someone who continues to move between Mumbai and Jammu, carrying both cities within him, this song feels like the place where those two worlds finally meet.
Sharma also takes a moment to express his heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has been part of this journey-his family, friends, the local cast and crew, and all those who extended their support and love during the shoot across the region. For an artist who carries Jammu within him wherever he goes, that warmth has meant everything.
And this is only the beginning. With the same level of commitment and artistic sincerity that has defined his journey, Sharma has more music on the horizon, including an upcoming Dogri song, as he continues to explore the languages and landscapes closest to his heart. For the people of Jammu and the region he calls home, he carries a quiet hope-that the music will find them, move them, and that they will embrace it with the same love and warmth that has always defined this land.
Rooted in stillness, reflection, and feeling, Pal Ye Mera is personal in voice, cinematic in scale, and deeply rooted in the spirit of Jammu & Kashmir. It releases worldwide across all major streaming platforms, carrying with it the beauty of a region and the long, quiet journey of an artist who was always meant to arrive here.
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