Nitin Sawhney CBE is a British composer, musician and producer who is widely regarded as one of the most inventive and prolific creatives of his generation. His approach to composition is rooted in the idea of creating a distinct musical language for each project, drawing on a wide range of influences while remaining closely connected to story, character and emotion. Sawhney has composed over sixty film scores, including Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, Breathe, Tiger, Orangutan, What’s Love Got to Do with It?, The Namesake and Midnight’s Children. His TV credits include the MGM+ drama Vanished, the Sky Studios series Funny Woman, and the two epic BBC series Human Planet and Wonders of the Monsoon. A recurring theme in his early film work was reinterpreting silent cinema in a contemporary context. He was commissioned to create new scores for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, Franz Osten’s A Throw of Dice and Mikio Naruse’s Yogoto no Yume, performing these live with orchestras. As a multi-instrumentalist, he is renowned for his layered scores, which move effortlessly between classical composition, electronic soundscapes and multiple global music vocabularies, including Hindustani classical music, flamenco, jazz, hip-hop, drum and bass, rock and pop. Sawhney has also scored extensively for theatre and dance, and his video game credits include Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. For commercials, he has created music for global brands including Nike, Sephora and Yves Saint Laurent. Sawhney first made his name as a musician and producer. His 13 acclaimed solo albums include the gold-selling Beyond Skin, which contains the anthemic track Homelands; London Undersound, which features Paul McCartney; Last Days of Meaning, which centres on a character played by the actor John Hurt; and the remarkable release One Zero, which was recorded live to vinyl, as well as his latest release Identity. Sawhney has collaborated with and written for P!nk, Sting, A.R. Rahman, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Sinéad O’Connor, Guy Garvey, Hak Baker, Lady Blackbird, Ellie Goulding, Anoushka Shankar, Norah Jones, Jeff Beck, Shakira, Will Young, Joss Stone, Taio Cruz, Horace Andy, Cirque du Soleil, Nelson Mandela, Ojos de Brujo, Hélène Grimaud, Natacha Atlas, Jools Holland, Jorja Smith, Gary Lineker, Lianne La Havas, Annie Lennox, Bob Geldof and Herbie Hancock. In parallel with his work for screen and his own studio recordings, Sawhney is an established concert composer, writing ambitious orchestral and choral pieces that reflect his interest in identity, history and the human experience. He has written for and performed with ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and has conducted both the London Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Festival Orchestra. As a touring musician, Sawhney has performed extensively as an artist in his own right at some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and the Sydney Opera House. Born to Indian parents and raised in Kent, England, he studied piano, classical and flamenco guitar, tabla and sitar from an early age, developing his instinct for combining different musical traditions. Among his many international accolades, he received the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to music. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and BAFTA.
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Biography from IMDb.
- May 12, 1964 (62)
- Rochester, Kent, England, UK
- Composer, also actor
- 25 on MovieCove · 43 credits in all
What are Nitin Sawhney's films like?
Across their 20 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 17
A split, not a type: Light 9 · Serious 2 · Dark 6
Grounded 12 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 1
A split, not a type: Gentle 8 · Charged 4 · Intense 5
Steady 11 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 13 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 9 · Even-paced 8 · Relentless 0
Casual 8 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 6 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 6
Resolved 14 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet7
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous6
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Nitin Sawhney's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 14 of their 25 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Nitin Sawhney's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
43 credits, 25 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Surviving Earth(2026)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all shows
Orangutan(2026)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
Vanished(2026)
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all shows
Christmas Karma(2025)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
National Theatre at Home: A Tupperware of Ashes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Elements Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramovic (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Tiger(2024)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
My Name Is Andrea(2022)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Hostile (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
A Play Before The Bombs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
The Colour Room(2021)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Settlers(2021)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
A Girl from Mogadishu(2019)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Traitors(2019)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Sunshine of Your Love: A Concert for Jack Bruce (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Breathe(2017)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Tawfiq’s Reef (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)
Gaza From Within: Return to Seifa Village (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Vara: A Blessing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Flying Paper(2014)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Nelson Mandela Redrawn(2014)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Japan in a Day (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Midnight's Children(2012)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Climate of Change(2010)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Jean Charles (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Blindsight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
The Namesake(2006)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Lila Says(2004)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Symphony (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
The Legend of the Tamworth Two (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Second Generation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Anita and Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Rose and Maloney(2002)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
Pure(2002)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all filmsIvor the Invisible (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Surviving Sabu (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
A Throw of Dice(1929)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all filmsFly Little Bird (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 39 titles, 38 of them dated from 1927 to 2026.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
2 major nominations and no wins, 2011–2025.
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Original Music, Factual
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Specialist Factual
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Nitin Sawhney's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 69th percentile, the median of all 21; across their 17 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 71st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up9
- 50th to 74th9
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 25 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Divisive4
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser9
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the sound and music 52/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles; fans 64, detractors 32. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Nitin Sawhney's work okay for kids?
Across up to 7 MovieCove titles with content scores, 1 of the 5 categories sits near the median of all films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Nitin Sawhney work with?
People who share at least 2 of Nitin Sawhney's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Mark Linfield shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Mark LinfieldShared titles: Orangutan (2026), Tiger (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Linfield
- Vanessa BerlowitzShared titles: Orangutan (2026), Tiger (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Vanessa Berlowitz
- Andy SerkisShared titles: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018), Breathe (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Andy Serkis
Actors
- Tom HollanderShared titles: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018), Breathe (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Tom Hollander
Cinematographers and editors
- David MothershawShared titles: Orangutan (2026), Tiger (2024)See all 2 shared titles with David Mothershaw
- Nigel BuckShared titles: Orangutan (2026), Tiger (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Nigel Buck
Producers
- Matthew HeldermanShared titles: Vanished (2026), A Girl from Mogadishu (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Matthew Helderman
- Roy ConliShared titles: Orangutan (2026), Tiger (2024)See all 2 shared titles with Roy Conli
- Ben PughShared titles: Settlers (2021), Traitors (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Pugh
- Jonathan CavendishShared titles: Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018), Breathe (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Jonathan Cavendish
