His work is noted for Nikkhil Advani's Lucknow Central film starring Farhan Akhtar directed by Ranjit Tiwari for which Arjuna Harjai composed three songs, background score and the soundtracks for trailers and commercials.[4][5][6]
Early life and education
Harjai started learning Hindustani classical music from his parents at a very young age and was exposed to various music styles. He moved to Mumbai in 2006 to further study under playback singer Suresh Wadkar. He also studied piano as his main instrument since a very young age and went on to study until Grade 8 of western classical and jazz piano from Delhi school of music and in 2008 he passed out from SAE Institute, Mumbai as the highest scorer in Audio Engineering. In 2009 he studied jazz and counterpoint composition under various music exchange programs in Delhi and Mumbai.[7]
Career
While composing advertising jingles for major brands, Harjai continued assisting music composer Lalit Pandit for projects such as Besharam and Dabangg.
Harjai began composing for cinema when Punjabi producer Rajan batra was looking for a new composer with a distinct vision for his feature film Titoo MBA. Harjai went on to compose the entire soundtrack for the film.[8] and has continued with a number of other film soundtracks and songs. By 2022 Harjai has a portfolio of composing over 500 advertising jingles and a dozen feature films. Since 2021 Harjai has been working remotely after he relocated temporarily to United Kingdom on a dependent visa as his wife is pursuing a postgraduate degree. [9] Arjuna Harjai has two YouTube channels, one named 'Arjuna Harjai' that features vlogs (1.2 Mn subscribers), another one called 'Arjuna Harjai 2.0' featuring podcasts with interesting guests which he manages alongside his career as a music composer.[10]
In 2023 he collaborated with Sounds of Isha and various International artists like Machel Montano Marge Blackman and Sandeep Narayan to create the Save Soil and Come Awake anthems for supporting the Save Soil movement by Sadhguru[11]
In 2024, Arjuna Harjai launched a creative project titled "The One Minute Composer,"[12] where he composed and released tracks inspired by random prompts, each within a minute-long format. This series featured songs like "Winter Ayun Waliye," "Mangoge Na," and "Zikar Hai," with the latter being a significant collaboration with Pakistani singer Natasha Noorani. The project quickly gathered substantial attention, with all three songs making it to Spotify's viral 50 charts, further demonstrating Harjai's ability to resonate with global audience.[13]"Zikar Hai" was particularly noted for its emotional depth and the innovative cross-border collaboration, which involved remote production sessions between Harjai in the UK and Noorani in Lahore.[14] Additionally, in 2024, Harjai was recognized as the "Introducing Artist of the Week" by BBC Asian Network, highlighting his growing influence in the international music scene.[15]
