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Atif Afzal, also known by his stage name A-Zal, is an India-born, London-raised, New York–based singer-songwriter and composer. He is known for his music compositions for the American television series Ms. Marvel (miniseries), Loki (TV series), NCIS: Los Angeles and The Twilight Zone and for the films Resort to Love, Prague, Pune 52, Monsoon Shootout, and Baji.

Early life and education

Atif Afzal was born in Mumbai, India, but grew up in Hounslow, in London, England. He attended Hounslow Heath School.[1]

He studied engineering at the K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering and then worked at KPMG before starting a career in music.[2] He trained under an alumnus from the Royal College of Music.[3]

Career

Afzal is known by his stage name A-Zal.[4][5]

Afzal began his music career in 2013 by composing the film scores and soundtracks of Prague,[6] Pune 52[7] and Baji.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

He has also worked on international films, including a German film, Gift,[14] a European film, Then a Hero Comes Along,[15][16] a New York short film, The Alternative,[17] and Bachelor Girls.[17] In 2017, he scored the background music for Monsoon Shootout, which was produced by Anurag Kashyap and DAR Motion Pictures.[18][19][20] He also composed music for the Marathi film Charandas Chor.[21]

Afzal’s film albums have been released on major record labels including Universal Music Group, Times Music, Zee Music Company and Saregama. He has also sung the songs ‘Shravan Shravan’ in the film Baji and ‘Chor Chor Saare’ in the film Charandas Chor.[2]

Afzal moved to New York in 2018[22][23] and studied music at New York University.[24][25] In 2020, he composed soundtracks for the American television series NCIS: Los Angeles and The Twilight Zone.[26][27]

In 2021, A-Zal composed soundtracks for Loki (TV series) and Alicia Keys produced Netflix film, Resort to Love.[28][29]

In 2022, A-Zal composed two soundtracks for Marvel Cinematic Studios’ Ms. Marvel (miniseries).[30]

In 2023, the artist released his single “Lonely Town”. The music video for the single received nominations at the 2023 Montreal Independent Film Festival and the 2024 American Documentary and Animation Film Festival.[31]

Filmography

Films

Television series

Discography

Singles

  • “Movie Script”[39]
  • “Lonely Town”
  • “Autopilot”
  • “Phonebook”
  • “Fa Fa Fa”[40]

References

  1. ^ “A-Zal. From Mumbai to Hollywood Soundtracks”. www.famemagazine.co.uk. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Shetty, Anjali (November 26, 2017). “When I entered the industry, I knew nobody”. Hindustan Times. p. 22.
  3. ^ Kagdi, Safaque (July 24, 2023). “A-Zal Unveils New Infectious, Funky, Feel-Good Summer Pop Single “Movie Script”“. WPRI.com. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
  4. ^ Njoka, Eric (June 25, 2022). “Musician Atif Afzal speaks to WION: All about A-Zal’s ‘Marvel’ous journey”. WION.
  5. ^ Chopra, Swati (June 25, 2022). “‘The Benchmark Is Very High With Marvel’: Ms Marvel’s Music Composer A-Zal”. The Quint.
  6. ^ Rafat. “Prague Music Review”. Yahoo! News. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  7. ^ Times News Network. “Shalmali Kholgade is music director Atif Afzal’s lucky mascot”. The Times of India. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  8. ^ “‘Baji’ Music Director Atif Afzal”. Dailymotion.
  9. ^ “I had the liberty to compose”. Absolute India. January 15, 2015.
  10. ^ Rajani, Kanika (February 6, 2015). “A Grand Score!”. Screen. p. 35.
  11. ^ a b “Shreyas Talpade goes gaga over ‘Baji’ music director Atif Afzal | Marathi Movie News – Times of India”. The Times of India. January 24, 2015.
  12. ^ “Atif Afzal: Felt bad when my movie with Salman Khan got shelved”. The Times of India. PTI. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  13. ^ Service, Tribune News (January 28, 2015). “Third time lucky”. The Tribune.
  14. ^ “Adgully Exclusive: “My inspiration is A.R. Rahman”- Composer and Singer Atif Afzal”. www.adgully.com.
  15. ^ “Composing music for global films is exciting: Atif Afzal”. Business Standard India. IANS. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  16. ^ Bhattacharjee, Rupanwita. “It was a bumpy ride: Atif Afzal”. The Statesman. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Singh, Arpita (November 24, 2017). “Monsoon Shootout composer used Skype to record music”. India TV.
  18. ^ Press Trust of India. “Atif Afzal: Felt bad when my movie with Salman Khan got shelved”. The Times of India. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  19. ^ Staff (December 15, 2014). “Atif Afzal lends his vocals for first Marathi track”. radioandmusic.com.
  20. ^ “Abhijeet Sawant joins hands with Bollywood music director Atif Afzal for Baji”. Urban Asian. February 5, 2015.
  21. ^ “‘Monsoon Shootout’ composer used Skype to record music”. The Statesman. IANS. November 24, 2017.
  22. ^ Tagat, Anurag (October 12, 2020). “New York-Based Music Director Atif Afzal Talks Metal Roots, Making It in the Composing Space -“. Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  23. ^ “New York based Indian Singer-Songwriter Atif Afzal has released new mellow single”. Radio and Music.
  24. ^ a b Staff (April 9, 2021). “Atif Afzal (aka A-Zal) talks about his upcoming pop music album”. Los Angeles Life and Style.
  25. ^ De Souza, Noel (August 17, 2021). “Meet A-Zal, The Indian Musician Who Composed Music for Marvel’s Loki”. Zee Zest.
  26. ^ Rajpal, Rocktim (September 21, 2020). “Remix culture killing originality, says music composer Atif Afzal”. Deccan Herald.
  27. ^ Khatoon, Farah (July 30, 2021). “Composer Atif Afzal creates a surreal world for Loki’s finale”. Indulge Express.
  28. ^ Lulla, Sonia (July 26, 2021). “A journey worth marvelling”. Mid-Day.
  29. ^ Sen, Debarati (August 13, 2021). “Musician A-Zal: Anywhere you go in the world, you will always hear Bollywood beats being played – Times of India”. The Times of India.
  30. ^ Roy, Priyanka (June 28, 2022). “A-Zal chats with The Telegraph on what it takes to break into Hollywood”. The Telegraph (India).
  31. ^ Argentina, Billboard (June 3, 2024). “A-Zal: De tocar en el metro de Nueva York a cantante pop”. Billboard Argentina (in Spanish).
  32. ^ Tikare, Sachin. “Atif Afzal’s score in Monsoon Shootout gets applause”. The Free Press Journal. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  33. ^ Sadhwani, Garima (August 8, 2021). “A-Zal becomes a part of the ‘Marvel’ous cinematic universe”. National Herald.
  34. ^ Today, Telangana (August 14, 2021). “Indian-American singer A-Zal composes Alicia Keys”. Telangana Today.
  35. ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (July 12, 2022). “Music composer A-Zal on working in ‘Ms Marvel’“. The Hindu.
  36. ^ Tagat, Anurag (August 8, 2022). “Composer A-Zal Talks ‘Ms. Marvel’ Music and Finally Telling His Own Story”. Rolling Stone.
  37. ^ Pereira, Karen (July 1, 2022). “Atif Afzal reveals secret Marvel film on the cards after composing music for ‘Ms Marvel’ and ‘Loki’“. The Times of India.
  38. ^ PTI (July 4, 2022). “Ms Marvel track was originally for a Salman Khan film”. Mint.
  39. ^ Tagat, Anurag (October 19, 2023). “A-Zal Seeks Belonging in the Big Apple in ‘Lonely Town’ Video”. Rolling Stone India.
  40. ^ Tagat, Anurag (June 27, 2024). “A-Zal’s Frenzied ‘Fa Fa Fa’ is His Way of Addressing Racism”. Rolling Stone India.

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