Some Indian bands are built around a sound. Fiddlecraft was built around a songbook. When Gaurav Kadu and Sudeep Shetty walked away from their jobs, the plan was the best studio in Pune, not a band; the investor vanished, and what was left was a singer-songwriter with, by his own count, 200 songs already written and a manager willing to sell them. Eleven years later, the Fiddlecraft band holds No. 15 on Spotify's Rock in India playlist with "Main Chala Jaunga", the six-minute opener of their 2018 debut album Hawai Jahaaz, and has carried that Hindi pop-rock voice into a Filmfare-nominated soundtrack for The Family Man and onto Citadel: Honey Bunny. This is how a Pune songbook became a fixture of Indian indie's most-watched rock playlist.

Fiddlecraft at a glance

  • Origin: Pune, Maharashtra (Rolling Stone India; mid-day; Indulge Express)
  • Formed: 1 April 2015, by singer-songwriter Gaurav Kadu and manager Sudeep Shetty (Rolling Stone India, April 2020)
  • Sound: Hindi pop-rock with folk-pop roots; influences named by the band include Euphoria, The Raghu Dixit Project and Coldplay
  • Debut album: Hawai Jahaaz (Apple Music release 6 June 2018), ten tracks, ℗ Songdew
  • Rock in India: "Main Chala Jaunga" at No. 15 (checked 14 October 2026, about 9:05 AM IST)
  • Screen work: three songs in The Family Man Season 2 (2021); "Tufaan" on Citadel: Honey Bunny (2024); "Mujh Mai Hai Tu" for the Amazon Prime anthology Unpaused (2020)
  • Recognition: shared nomination, Best Original Soundtrack (Series), Filmfare OTT Awards 2021, for The Family Man Season 2
  • Current release line: since March 2024, singles and live EPs carry "℗ Fiddlecraft under exclusive license to Warner Music India"
  • Spotify artist: 0xhbB0DrR0MnaU1ynq4itU; Apple Music artist: 1265505003

How Fiddlecraft began: a studio plan that became a band

Rolling Stone India's Anurag Tagat opened his April 2020 interview with a detail that still sets Fiddlecraft apart: the band started with a manager bent on making it big. "Fiddlecraft happened after two of us resigned from our jobs, thinking we'll open the best studio of Pune. Right after leaving our jobs, our investor backed out," Kadu told the magazine. The band was formed on 1 April 2015. Shetty, not a musician himself, says his role is to give the general listener's reaction.

Kadu's reason for hiring a manager first is disarmingly honest: he had 200 songs written before Fiddlecraft existed. "So more than having any other musicians, the first requirement was a manager to sell those song," he said. A 2019 profile on the ConnectUSS blog traces the seed back to a 2013 office event called WinterFest, with the band made official on 1 April 2015. mid-day later described the group as former IT professionals who quit mainstream jobs to pursue music.

That founding pair has been the constant. Musicians have changed around them. ConnectUSS listed a 2019 line-up of Kadu, lead guitarist Akshay More, bassist Lawrence Godad, drummer Syed Saif Ali and percussionist Narayanan Sarma. By April 2020, Rolling Stone India named guitarist Akshay More, drummer Syed Saif Ali, pianist and keyboardist Vikas Makasare and bassist Dev Verma, with Kadu saying more instrumentalists could join on stage. Indulge Express's July 2025 band photo, which is our cover, names Atul Massey, Syed Saif Ali, Kartik Tarte, Gaurav Kadu, Karan Barnabas and Sudeep Shetty. Saif Ali is the drummer who runs through all three accounts.

Hawai Jahaaz and Main Chala Jaunga

Rolling Stone India notes the band released singles before building to the album. Apple Music dates "Zindagi", later an album track, to 29 July 2017 and the stand-alone "Din Shagna Da" to 29 December 2017. Hawai Jahaaz arrived on 6 June 2018 (the date Apple Music and Spotify both use) under a Songdew copyright line.

The album runs ten tracks: "Main Chala Jaunga", "Zindagi", "Fakir", "Parindey", "Hum Tujhsay Judaa", the short interlude "Gawahi", "Kashmir Janeman (Live)", "Disneyland", "Ram Ram" and "Rangeeli". It opens with its longest studio statement. "Main Chala Jaunga" lasts just over six minutes, and Rolling Stone India files it among Kadu's love ballads, the opposite pole from socio-political songs such as "Bakre Ki Amma".

That Rock in India keeps the opener, not a new single, says something about how the playlist works: it holds onto songs audiences still ask for. When Fiddlecraft announced a Seawoods show in Navi Mumbai in January 2023, Kadu told mid-day to expect "Kyu Jana Hai", "Rastey" and "Disneyland". On the 2025 Rastey tour, Indulge Express listed "Main Chala Jaunga", "Disneyland" and "Rangeeli". Seven years after release, Hawai Jahaaz is still the spine of the set.

In our Rock in India snapshots from 13 to 14 October 2026, "Main Chala Jaunga" sat at No. 15 every time. On the 14 October check it sat between Faheem Abdullah's "Aag" at No. 14 and The Yellow Diary's "Buniyaad" at No. 16, a few rows below Swastik The Band's "Jogi" at No. 12. That is the playlist's Hindi band shelf; our Rock in India playlist history explains its DIY roots.

The singles years: Ye Dil to Tere Intezaar

Between the album and the screen breakthrough, Fiddlecraft kept up a busy singles schedule. Rolling Stone India's 2020 interview centred on "Ye Dil", a love song built on metaphors of home ownership. Its video was shot by Kadu's wife, Nikita Shetty, at a boathouse by a Scottish loch, and edited by Kadu himself. With gigs on hold, Shetty said the band was on a "virtual anniversary tour".

The magazine's playlists also caught how the band handles texture. In its 2019 monsoon list, Rolling Stone India heard "Awaaz Yaad Rakhna" as indie-soul, with layered guitars, fingerpicked acoustic and cajon. In September 2020 it covered "Tere Intezaar", Kadu's duet with singer-songwriter Vishrut Jawalkar, as a song that moves from acoustic guitar and piano into "soaring rock territory" on a buzzing guitar lead. Apple Music lists the track as "Tera Intezaar (feat. Vishrut)", dated August 2020. That period's catalogue, from "Zinda" and "Rastey" to "Qayamat Par" with Prachi Gole and "Kyu Jana Hai", sits mostly under Songdew copyright lines, with some singles on 700120 Records DK. In March 2022, Rolling Stone India also put Fiddlecraft on Bhopal's GIFLIF Comedy and Music Festival bill alongside Agnee. A ten-minute "Ram Ram (Live At GifLif)" EP followed that October.

The Family Man, Citadel and the screen years

The sharpest turn came through television. In June 2021, Rolling Stone India's round-up of The Family Man Season 2 soundtrack noted that Fiddlecraft "are featured throughout the show". It described "Toofan" as a high-powered rap that closes the second episode, and "Chal Ghar Wapas Chale" and "Andherey" as folk-rock songs with hard-hitting lyrics. The same soundtrack also brought Swarathma's "Beta Sweater Pehno" to new ears.

Shetty told mid-day in July 2021 that the band's Spotify following rose from about 10,000 to 26,000 after the show's release. "If one song travels, the others also get traction," he said. Filmfare's nominations list for the MyGlamm Filmfare OTT Awards 2021 credits R Rajesh, Sachin-Jigar, Fiddlecraft, Bindhumalini, Mahesh Shankar and Harpreet for The Family Man Season 2 under Best Original Soundtrack, Series.

Screen work did not stop there. Apple Music credits "Mujh Mai Hai Tu" to the Amazon Prime anthology Unpaused in December 2020. In November 2024, "Tufaan" appeared on the Citadel: Honey Bunny soundtrack on T-Series; Bollywood Hungama's credit reads "Written, Composed & Performed by Fiddlecraft". Talking to Indulge Express in 2025, Kadu was clear about the difference: "Family Man was our breakthrough in terms of visibility. But here's the thing, making one big song doesn't guarantee forever." Scene-led writing also means working inside a director's vision, he said, but for The Family Man "we got to create songs we actually play on stage."

Fiddlecraft now: Warner, live EPs and the case for bands

From March 2024, Fiddlecraft's release line changed. "Hum Khuda Nahi They", "Banjarey", "Kuch Milega Kuch Choot Jayega", "Jogiya", "Tera Mera" and "Alvida" all carry "℗ 2024 Fiddlecraft under exclusive license to Warner Music India". The same line appears on the 2025 live EP "Hum Aise Mohabbat Kar Jayengey Live", released on 1 April 2025, the band's tenth anniversary, and on "Ye Lo", "Mere Hisse Ki 'Jayedaad'" and the newest single, "Sab Yaha Pe Hai", released 9 September 2026. The ℗ line still names the band, which reads as a licence rather than an outright label signing; our guide to releasing music without a record label explains why that difference matters.

Indulge Express's 2025 interview puts the band at more than 900 shows. It also captures the economics Kadu is pushing against. "Venues prefer solo singer-songwriters now," he said. "Why pay for five flights tickets and five hotel rooms, when you can hire one person?" Most dates on the Rastey tour were solo sets, and only Hyderabad got the full band. The same piece describes a band that refuses one genre, leaning towards metal one moment and pure pop the next, with "the lyrics remain the anchor". That is the thread running from the Hawai Jahaaz ballads to the Warner-era singles. An AllEvents listing shows "Hindie feat. Fiddlecraft" at High Spirits, Mundhwa, Pune, on 9 September 2026, the day "Sab Yaha Pe Hai" came out.

Why Fiddlecraft matters to Indian independent rock

Fiddlecraft rarely makes "heaviest" or "most experimental" lists, and does not need to. A Pune act built on songwriting and stubborn management turned a 2018 album opener into a fixed point on Rock in India. It turned a soundtrack placement into listeners for its whole catalogue, and kept a band on the road when the business favoured soloists. For readers studying how independent bands build their sound, the lesson is clear: write the songs first, find someone who believes in them, and keep playing them until a playlist, a showrunner or a festival crowd catches up.

Start with "Main Chala Jaunga" and the rest of Hawai Jahaaz. Then play "Toofan", "Chal Ghar Wapas Chale" and "Andherey" from The Family Man Season 2, and finish with "Sab Yaha Pe Hai" to hear where the songbook stands in 2026.

FAQ

Who is the lead singer of Fiddlecraft?

Gaurav Kadu is the frontman, singer and songwriter. Rolling Stone India's April 2020 interview names him as frontman and singer-songwriter.

Where is Fiddlecraft from?

Fiddlecraft is from Pune, Maharashtra. Rolling Stone India, mid-day and Indulge Express all describe it as a Pune-based band.

When was Fiddlecraft formed?

Rolling Stone India gives the formation date as 1 April 2015, after Gaurav Kadu and Sudeep Shetty left their jobs. A 2019 ConnectUSS profile traces the earliest version of the group to a 2013 office event.

What is Fiddlecraft's debut album?

Hawai Jahaaz (2018) is the debut album. It has ten tracks, opens with "Main Chala Jaunga" and was released under a Songdew copyright line.

Which Fiddlecraft songs are in The Family Man?

The Family Man Season 2 features "Toofan", "Chal Ghar Wapas Chale" and "Andherey". The soundtrack shared a Best Original Soundtrack, Series nomination at the Filmfare OTT Awards 2021.

Is Fiddlecraft on Spotify's Rock in India playlist?

Yes. "Main Chala Jaunga" sat at No. 15 on Rock in India (playlist 37i9dQZF1DX2Ja6eBQeGaS) in our 14 October 2026 check.

Is Fiddlecraft signed to Warner Music India?

Since March 2024, Fiddlecraft's releases have carried "℗ Fiddlecraft under exclusive license to Warner Music India". The band keeps the copyright line and licenses the releases to Warner.

Sources

Cover: Fiddlecraft band photo (from left: Atul Massey, Syed Saif Ali, Kartik Tarte, Gaurav Kadu, Karan Barnabas and Sudeep Shetty) as published by Indulge Express, July 2025; photographer not credited by the publication. Cropped and resized to 1200×630; metadata stripped. Source: https://www.indulgexpress.com/culture/music/2025/Jul/18/experience-an-immersive-musical-evening-with-fiddlecrafts-rastey-tour-in-hyderabad.