For music composer Karan Kulkarni, inspiration comes in many forms. “Nature, life, cities, animals, culture, stories, characters in films and books, that divine occurence that hits you from the heavens and puts a song into your head,” he says with a smile. And it seems the heavens have been kind to him. The 27-year-old has composed music for Peddlers, which has received rave reviews in film festivals around the world. But it’s his first release here in India, Shahid, that’s getting Kulkarni all the attention. The musician, who started playing the guitar when he was 15 and then went on to get himself a degree in Music Production from Australia, is glad his work is getting noticed. Excerpts from an interview:

Karan Kulkarni counts Flying Lotus, Nitin Sawhney, The Chemical Brothers, Squarepusher, The Beatles and Michael Jackson among his many influences. Pic/Satyajit Desai