A classical veena interlude in Dhurandharis making waves.Featured in singer Arijit Singh’s ‘Phir Se’ track in the recent Bollywood superhit starring Ranveer Singh, this zingy instrumental bit is being recreated on social in Reels and is receiving praise from music lovers.The man behind the interlude is Tiruvannamalai-based Ramana Balachandran, a fast-rising musician who is already popular in Chennai’s kutcheri circuit. “It happened quite serendipitously,” recalls Ramana, “Shashwat bhai (music director) had been following my work on Instagram, and we connected through a common friend. The Dhurandhar team was warm, and asked me to keep in mind that it was a bittersweet situation. I was randomly playing some stuff, and we chanced upon the interlude. It was nice to get the freedom to express myself musically... but we had no idea that it would blow up so much.”For Ramana, a musician who has largely avoided film work despite offers coming his way, the Dhurandharouting has catapulted him to the national stage, with more popular music directors seeking his contribution to their tracks. “When a piece of work moves people deeply, it is very satisfying. To see such a short interlude resonating with people from a variety of backgrounds gave me joy. I’m very interested in technical aspects of recording and mixing; in fact, for my veena interlude, the microphone was kept 2.5 feet above the instrument, which gave a different kind of sound that was new to me.”