When Alokananda Dasgupta (BFA ’09) began her studies in Music at York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), she wasn’t sure she would ever find her place in the field. Today, she’s one of India’s most accomplished film composers, known for her scores for acclaimed projects including Netflix’s Sacred Games and Amazon Prime’s Khauf.
“Classical music fascinated me, but I knew early on that I wasn’t destined to be a great performer,” says Dasgupta. “My theoretical grounding back in Kolkata was shaky, and though I loved music deeply, I was uncertain, even intimidated, by the idea of pursuing it professionally.”
At AMPD, that uncertainty began to shift. Surrounded by supportive mentors and peers, Dasgupta found both direction and confidence in her craft.
“York changed everything,” she says. “My studies there reignited my curiosity, turning my confusion into exploration. The mentorship I received helped mend the invisible gap between me and my potential. My professors showed me that I didn’t need to be a virtuoso pianist to have a voice in music — I could shape my own path, create my own role and build a life in music that felt authentic to me.”
That sense of confidence carried her from Toronto to India, where she has become one of the country’s most recognized film composers.
In 2016, she was invited to the Berlinale Talents program in Berlin and went on to compose for the feature film Trapped. International attention followed with her score for the Netflix original series Sacred Games, which earned her two Filmfare Awards for Best Background Score and a BAFTA Breakthrough recognition in 2022.
Since then, Dasgupta has scored a wide range of acclaimed projects, including the award-winning series Jubilee and The Jengaburu Curse, as well as a Filmfare-nominated score for Three of Us.
Her recent projects include the haunting score for Amazon Prime’s Khauf, which earned her the Best Background Score award, a collaboration with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Shaunak Sen on a new short film, and Dooray, a Bengali song co-written with her sister, lyricist Rajeshwari Dasgupta.
“Composing in my mother tongue always feels like returning home,” she says. “It’s intimate, instinctive — and deeply emotional.”
Now, she’s writing music for herself again, in what will be her first personal album in years.
“It’s terrifying and liberating at the same time,” she admits. “Writing music just for myself reminds me why I started this journey in the first place — for the sheer love of it.”
Reflecting on her time at AMPD, Dasgupta says it shaped not just her career, but her approach to creativity itself.
“There’s no formula for success in the arts,” she says. “You’re in an environment that gives you the rare luxury to learn, fail and explore.”
To students, she offers a simple reminder. “Let your curiosity lead. The moment you stop listening — to music, to others, to yourself — you stop growing as an artist.”
Explore Dasgupta’s music on Spotify and visit her official website.