Only Murders in the Building theme song's connection with old Hindi Music that nobody saw coming

The third season of Only Murders in the Building recently premiered on Hulu and has garnered a great deal of positive reviews. The show is particularly praised for its intriguing mystery and clear storytelling. A lesser-known fact is that the show's theme song was created by Siddhartha Khosla, a singer, songwriter, producer, and composer for TV and film.

In a recent episode of Song Exploder, the Indian American artist revealed that the song was heavily inspired by ‘old Hindi music’.

Only Murders in the Building stars Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage, Martin Short as Oliver Putnam, Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora, Aaron Dominguez as Oscar Torres, Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows, Cara Delevingne as Alice Banks, and Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris.

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The composer of the theme tune for Only Murders in the Building says that he was influenced by Hindi music

Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians share how a popular song of theirs was made. In the recent episode, Siddhartha Khosla made an appearance and shared insights into the creation of the theme for the mystery comedy-drama.

Khosla revealed that the song had been composed when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. Khosla's own style is heavily influenced by the classic rock and old Bollywood music he listened to as a child.

Only Murders in the Building's theme song has old-school Hindi composition written all over it. In the podcast, Khosla mentioned:

"Old Hindi music, music my parents brought to this country when they came here, and I lived in India as a kid… If you listen to that music, it’s all about the melody. And so I grew up dreaming in melody, and thinking in melody, and writing in melody. So this had that."

In a different interview with NBC, Khosla shed more light on his Bollywood music influences.

He said:

"When [my] parents came to the US from India in the late 1970s, they brought with them cassette tapes of 1960’s Indian film songs from legends like Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Mohd. Rafi, and Lata Mangeshkar. I learned how to sing by learning these songs, and then performing them for my parents and their friends at parties. Those melodies were hauntingly beautiful and catchy, and to this day influence the way I write."

The composer further revealed how the show's co-creator John Hoffman fell in love with the theme upon his first listen. Khosla said:

"He was like, ‘This is exactly the tone of my show. That’s my main theme right there. He’s like, ‘No, that’s it. It makes me feel happy. It makes me feel sad. I feel mystery. I feel comedy. I feel intrigue. It feels very New York to me. And I want you to finish it."

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A synopsis of Only Murders in the Building

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the synopsis of Only Murders in the Building reads:

"Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth."

It further states:

"Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living among them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it's too late."

Only Murders in the Building was created by Steve Martin & John Hoffman. It premiered on August 31, 2021, on Hulu.