Amitabh Bhattacharya has been hailed as one of Bollywood’s most accessible wordsmiths. From the wry heartbreak of “Emotional Attyacha” on Anurag Kashyap’s Dev.D in 2009, working with composer Amit Trivedi, to the honeyed Hinglish of Arijit Singh and Pritam’s“Kesariya” from Brahmastra, Bhattacharya has a beautifully simple way with words that still carry profound ideas and easily flow through melodies conjured by filmi greats. Originally a playback singer from Lucknow—he sang “Tera Rastaa Chhodoon Na” in Chennai Express for composer duo Vishal-Shekhar—Bhattacharya has brought his lifelong love for Hindi cinema across the eras to modern soundtracks for films like Dangal and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Whether it’s rap from Raftaar on “Dhaakad” or Ram Sampath’s adventurous “Bhaag D.K. Bose”, Bhattacharya always finds the right words for any situation on the big screen.