Shashi Suman with actress Priyanka Chopra. Telegraph picture

The soul behind the inspirational tracks of Mary Kom is a 26-year-old youth from Bihar, who went against his father’s wisdom to pursue a career in music.

Shashi Suman, who composed the music for the boxing icon’s biopic Mary Kom, now dreams of singing songs for Oscar winning music director A.R. Rahman.

The boy from Bajaura village in Gaya, has already showcased exceptional talent in more than 2,000 shows across the world. “Though my father (Ram Pravesh Singh) did not want me to get into music, it was he and my mother (Malti Singh) who supported me later in my ventures. My father was himself a tabla player and he was the one who taught me the initial tunes when I was a child. As a result of their support, I was sent to Lucknow to learn music under Ustad Gulshan Bharti at the age of 14. I learnt music for six years,” said Suman.

Suman’s career got a thrust when he arrived in Mumbai in 2008. Bagging the composer’s hat for the Priyanka Chopra starrer-Mary Kom wasn’t an easy job for the Bihari youth. “Composing music for someone who comes from Manipur and on her life was a real challenge. I visited Manipur, which is a very different terrain compared to that of Bihar, to do a research on their culture and Kom’s life. Challenges came one after another. Understanding the colours of the movie, which was not meant to be commercial, and accordingly plan the folk music and the instrumentals, was tough. Ziddi Dil was appreciated by everyone,” said the new star in the tinsel town.

Sung by Vishal Dadlani and composed by Suman, the track a motivational number. Suman added that he was proud of the fact that an established singer like Priyanka made her Bollywood debut in singing through his music in the lullaby Chaoro.

Suman, who has done a masters in music from Bhatkhande University in Lucknow, said: “I would assist Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his upcoming movie Bajirao Mastani, which is said to be the costliest Bollywood film ever made. I was the finalist in Zee’s Sa Re Ga Ma in 2008, during which I came in contact with composers like Shankar Mahadevan and Aadesh Shrivastava.”

He added that Shrivastava gave him the opportunity to co-sing with him. “It was for Rajneeti (Mora piya mujhse bolat nahi). It was in 2010 during Indian Idol V (finalist) that Bhansali’s CEO heard me. He told me that I would be a better composer. Then, I assisted him in Ramleela,” said Suman.