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Hrishikesh Hirway

Hrishikesh Hirway

Composer and actor, also producer

Hrishikesh Hirway (born February 1, 1979) is an American musician, producer, and podcast and television host. He has made four albums under  The One AM Radio and has a side project with Lakeith Stanfield called Moors. He is the creator and host of the podcasts Song Exploder, The West Wing Weekly (with co-host Joshua Malina), Home Cooking (with co-host Samin Nosrat), and Partners. He is the executive producer and host of the Netflix television adaptation of Song Exploder. As a composer, Hirway scored the Netflix television show Everything Sucks! and the films Our Nixon and Save the Date. Description above from the Wikipedia article about Hrishikesh Hirway, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Works as
Composer and actor, also producer
Titles
5 on Motif · 7 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 20% in 30 days

What are Hrishikesh Hirway's films like?

Across their 5 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
46%
Bonds
23%
Morality
17%
Power
10%
Survival
5%
Identity3 titles, browse their movies with this themeComing of age2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 2 · Serious 0 · Dark 1

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 1 · Charged 1 · Intense 1

Shifting: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their shifting movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 1 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 1

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 1 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 1 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
2
Warm
3
Melancholic
2
Absurd
2
Tense
1
Other
3

How their films linger

Bittersweet3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 1 with a twist

  • Bittersweet3
  • Ambiguous1
  • Cyclical1

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 Hrishikesh Hirway's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 5 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (2).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Hrishikesh Hirway's titles on Motif; 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

7 credits, 5 with a Motif page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

  • Cause & Effect (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2026)

    as Podcast Host (voice)

  • Companion(2025)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films

  • Song Exploder(2020)

    Show 8 episodes · Composer · Producer · as Self - Host

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows

  • Everything Sucks!(2018)

    Show 10 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows

  • This Is How You Die (not in the Motif catalog yet)(2013)

    Composer

  • Our Nixon(2013)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • Save the Date(2012)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films

Career shape

A full career of 6 titles from 2012 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Companion (2025)

$37M worldwide

Highest rated

Companion (2025)

Midcredits 78th

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting1 of 6: 1 only acting, 0 with another roleMusic5 of 6: 5 only music, 0 with another role

By decade

2010s4 · crew2020s2 · 1 acting · 1 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Hrishikesh Hirway's films land?

Their typical Motif film has a Midcredits score in the 70th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 74th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

74thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

63rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

77thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 5 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up1
  • 50th to 74th3
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 5 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Crowd Pleaser4
  • Mixed1

Most loved · composer

Companion (2025)

Midcredits 78th · 68% liked

Reviewers score the sound and music 62/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles; fans 67, detractors 35. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; 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 Motif 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.

Who does Hrishikesh Hirway work with?

People who share at least 2 of Hrishikesh Hirway's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Michael Mohan shares the most, 2.

Directors

Cinematographers and editors