Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Music Directors Trio

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa are as diverse a music directors' team as there can be and one could look at their look at their names for starters! Varied as their backgrounds were, when they met they connected effortlessly, teamed up and went on to become the only music director trio in the industry today.

Shankar Mahadevan, apart from being a software pro, had all the markings of an Indian classical musician and was equipped with formal training in the Carnatic and Hindustani styles. However, he had also dabbled in jazz and fusion music, had performed regularly, and done playback singing for a few Hindi films apart from recording Breathless in collaboration with noted lyricist Javed Akhtar which had helped him catapult to fame and brought him in to the public eye. His musical activity also included composing ad jingles and during one such project, he met Ehsaan and Loy.

Extensively trained in Western classical music, Loy Mendonsa had been performing with bands and for plays in Mumbai and Delhi. He relocated to Delhi in pursuit of some serious music and found that the scene there was not any more encouraging than back in Mumbai. For want of a commercially viable vocation, Loy took up composing ad jingles, established himself well in Mumbai after delivering some remarkable work.

After completing his basic education, Ehsaan Noorani moved to the USA to study music. He came back two years later and became a freelance guitarist performing for plays as well as other musicians. Along the way, he too entered the arena of ad jingle composition and during the course of work, met Loy.

The duo did a few acts together and during yet another of their ad jingle projects met with Shankar Mahadevan. They connected instantly thanks to their common passion and first put their collective efforts to work with Dillagi and Dus in 1999, and have stuck together ever since. Mission Kashmir (2000) was easily their biggest commercial success.