The Rish

Who is The Rish?

The Rish — the stage name of composer, songwriter and producer Rishabh Kant — is one of the most talked-about new names in Indian film music, thanks to his breakthrough composition "Barbaad" from Mohit Suri's Saiyaara (2025). Sung by Jubin Nautiyal and released by YRF Music, the heartbreak ballad turned The Rish into one of the most promising young composers in the contemporary Hindi music scene.

Musical background

The Rish came to Bollywood composition by an unusual route: he began as a performer in an English alt/rock band before turning to Hindi film and independent music. That cross-genre history shapes his signature sound, which blends classical Indian melody with new-age pop production. He describes his approach not by style but by feeling, calling his music "the genre of emotion" — a focus on heartfelt lyrics and rich, melody-led arrangements over any single musical label.

Early career

Before his film breakthrough, The Rish built a body of work across independent and film music. In 2021 he released the single "Hope You Don't Mind" with Sony Music. He also contributed to film soundtracks, composing tracks including "Haanji" and "Desi Wine" for Thank You for Coming, and "Ro Lehn De". Along the way he collaborated with a wide range of contemporary artists, among them Emiway Bantai, OAFF, Lisa Mishra, Nikhita Gandhi and Raghav Chaitanya — experience that spanned hip-hop, indie-pop and film music.

Breakthrough with "Barbaad"

The Rish's defining moment came with "Barbaad" for Saiyaara, on which he served as both composer and lyricist. Working with director Mohit Suri and singer Jubin Nautiyal, he crafted a nearly six-minute ballad that he describes as charting "a journey from hesitation to surrender" in love. The song became one of 2025's most-loved tracks, resonating with listeners in India and internationally, and a female reprise of "Barbaad" was performed by Shilpa Rao on the same soundtrack.

On working with Mohit Suri

The Rish has spoken about the significance of collaborating with Mohit Suri, a filmmaker long associated with landmark Bollywood music. "Mohit Suri has always been the gold standard of music," he said. "Every decade, he changes the face of Bollywood music." For a young composer, contributing the emotional centrepiece of a Suri film — and a Yash Raj Films release — marked a major arrival on the mainstream stage.

An indie-to-film crossover

The Rish's trajectory reflects a wider shift in Indian music, in which artists trained outside the traditional film-industry pipeline — in independent releases, rock bands and streaming-first singles — are increasingly being handed marquee Bollywood projects. Having moved from an English alt/rock band to Sony Music's independent roster and then to film soundtracks, he arrived at Saiyaara with a sensibility shaped as much by contemporary pop and indie production as by classical film melody. That hybrid background is central to why "Barbaad" sounds both modern and rooted, and why his breakthrough resonated with a young, streaming-native audience.

Style and approach

What distinguishes The Rish is his refusal to be boxed into a single genre. He combines the emotional directness of Indian melody with modern, atmospheric production, often handling songwriting, composition and production himself. On "Barbaad", that integrated approach allowed him to shape every layer of the song — from its restrained, sarangi-and-saaz-tinged arrangement to its surrender-to-heartbreak narrative — into a cohesive emotional statement, rather than a melody handed off to separate lyricists and producers.

Legacy in the making

Still early in his film career, The Rish has quickly established himself as a composer to watch. The runaway success of "Barbaad" — a single-handed songwriting, composing and production showcase released on one of the year's biggest soundtracks — positioned him among the most exciting new voices in Indian music. For a creator who came up outside the film mainstream, it signalled the arrival of a young artist intent on redefining what a contemporary Bollywood ballad can sound like, and one whose next moves are now closely watched across the industry. Having a single song establish his name on a Yash Raj Films soundtrack — as writer, composer and producer all at once — is the kind of debut most artists spend years working towards, and it places The Rish among the most promising composers of his generation.