Naren & Benedict

Hailed as one of the Indian film industry’s most important technicians by Scroll India, Naren Chandavarkar is a Mumbai-based composer, sound designer, and producer. Frequently collaborating with London-based violist Benedict Taylor, Chandavarkar collectively they are known for their innovative film scores in critically acclaimed projects like Heeramandi, Udta Punjab, Kohrra, Sonchiriya, Newton, Paatal Lok, Ship Of Theseus, and The Disciple. Their work has earned them a Filmfare award and nominations for the Canadian Screen Award, the International Cinephile Society Award, and the Dutch Game Awards.

Career Highlights

• Garnered national recognition for scoring the background score for ‘Udta Punjab‘, nominated under the Best Background Score category at the Filmfare Awards 2017.
• Most recent works include the background score for ‘Tryst with Destiny (Sony Liv), a fiction feature that has won best screenplay at Tribeca Film Festival 2020, Vidya Balan starrer ‘Sherni’ (Amazon Prime), ‘RAY’ directed by Abhishek Chaubey (Netflix),  Karan Johar’s ‘Searching For Sheela’, and Amazon Prime series ‘Pataal Lok‘
• Other notable compositions include the multi-award-winning movie ‘Newton‘ (India’s official entry to the Oscars) and the movie ‘Sonchiriya‘, which won the ‘Best Film (Critics)’ category award at Filmfare 2020.
• Won Filmfare Award(2021) for the best Sound Design- “The Disciple” (Marathi).
• Other known works include the background score for Laal Kaptaan, Ghoul, Black Kite, Killa, That Girl in Yellow Boots, and more.
• Defying geographical boundaries, Naren (Mumbai) & Benedict (London) in 2020 did notable scores for Berlin International Film Festival nominee, Laila Aur Satt Geet, voted amongst the best movies of 2020.
• International recognition – “Best Achievement in Music – Original Score” nomination for ‘Black Kite’ at the Canadian Screen Awards. This prestigious award ceremony is well known as a melting pot for the finest in music and cinema with former winners being heavyweights such as Mychael Danna who delivered the score for Life of Pi, Grammy/Oscar/Golden Globe and BAFTA award winner Ryuichi Sakamoto, Lord of the Rings composer- Howard Shore and legendary minimalist composer Terry Riley.

Awards / Recognition

• Filmfare (2021)- “The Disciple” (Marathi)

• Canadian Screen Awards- ‘Best Achievement in Music – Original Score” nomination for ‘Black Kite’ 

• • This prestigious award ceremony is well known as a melting pot for the finest in music and cinema with former winners being heavyweights such as Mychael Danna who delivered the score for Life of Pi, Grammy/Oscar/Golden Globe and BAFTA award winner Ryuichi Sakamoto, Lord of the Rings composer- Howard Shore and legendary minimalist composer Terry Riley.