The soundtrack is a crucial element in making a story stand out. Sometimes it’s better than the script and sometimes doesn’t stay with us when we leave the theater or turn off the TV. However, it’s impossible not to connect it with our hearts when it combines undeniably. There are several iconic works and I’ve already talked about many of them here at Miscelana. Two of the more recent composers deserve to be in a separate box: Ramin Djawadi for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon and Siddhartha Khosla for This Is Us and Only Murders In The Building.

The son of Indian immigrants, Khosla arrived in the United States when he was 4 years old, to join his parents (Yale students) who had left him with his grandmother until they could afford to bring him. During this physical distance between them, music made a significant appearance, as his mother would record lullabies in Hindi on cassette tapes for him to listen to and always have her close by. He sang so well that they recorded his voice for his parents.

Once in the United States, Siddhartha Khosla remained connected to Indian culture and, although he was part of bands with friends, he had some difficulty in catching the rhythm of Western music. Having graduated in History from the University of Pennsylvania, the composer met future screenwriter Dan Fogelman there, with whom he became friends in the first week of his freshman year.

Up until then, music was more of a hobby than a means, so much so that his goal was to become a public defender, but he ended up taking the risk and went to London to form a band with another friend. Although the difficulties made this change more complex, it was then that he began to mix Indian melodies with Western pop. His friend Dan Fogelman, by this time, was already in Hollywood and had written hits like Crazy, Stupid, Love, and he realized that Khosla would do very well as a soundtrack composer.

Fogelman had vision (and ear!), but Khosla resisted when his friend asked him to compose the music for his series, The Neighbors. After giving in, he worked with him again: the soundtrack for This Is Us. It was only after the huge success of the series that the musician finally agreed to move to Los Angeles. In six seasons, he was nominated for an Emmy four times for his music. And he created his signature.

Siddhartha Khosla’s melodies are recognized far and wide and today he has written films like A Family Affair and The Idea of ​​You, but it is undoubtedly with Only Murders in the Building that his genius is most evident. First, the theme is easy and impactful, and then it never sounds the same when the arrangements change. There is tension, sadness, suspense, comedy, drama, and even terror in his notes. Without his music, the mysteries and crimes of Arconia would not have the same weight.

Influenced by Erik Satie and Philip Glass (who always signs with a minimalist, circular, and grandiose vein), Khosla was like everyone else during the pandemic: isolated at home when he received the phone call from John Hoffman, co-creator of OMITB. Mixing samplers, humming, and using different instruments, he created a theme that was soon approved.

The composer’s sensitivity is revealed in his vision of New Yorkers whose loneliness and melancholy are present in the central theme. The orchestrations, which mix piano, voices, and string quartet, are hypnotic and an inseparable part of the entire narrative. In the fourth season, he only proves to us once again that he can – and always will – surprise us.

I’m a big fan!

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