MUMBAI: It takes both blood and sweat to convert dreams into reality and music duo Som-Raul are willing to put in both. So far, the duo has just one Bollywood song ‘Nikhattoo’ from the movie 'The Legend of Micheal Mishra' to their credit, but this is just the beginning.

After eight years of efforts, the duo managed to crack through the glamorous world of Bollywood. So, how did it all begin?

Som Burman and Rahul Singh (Raul) met each other in Mumbai while pursuing their course in sound engineering from SAE College. Soon they realised that they shared a common passion for music and decided to work as a team.

However, the path to Bollywood wasn't strewn with petals for them. Initially, Som started programming and arranging Bollywood tracks professionally, something that he continues to do till date. He has produced tracks for music directors like Amaal Mallik, Vivek Kar, Gajendra Verma, and has worked on films like ‘Sanam Re,’ ‘Meruthiya Gangsters,’ ‘Direct Ishq’ and ‘One Night Stand’ amongst others.

The two also gave background music to hit television shows like ‘Hum Se Hai Life’ and ‘Suvreen Guggal’ together. However, they chose to go different ways, as far as the television projects were concerned.

Rahul chose to tour as a guitarist with renowned singers like Mohit Chauhan and Ankit Tiwari. Som continued to give music for TV shows like ‘The Buddy Project’, ‘Savdhan India’, ‘Palak Pe Jhalak’, ‘Meri Awaaz Hi Meri Pehchaan’ with the talented music composer Shivi R. Kashyap and ‘Bado Bahu’.

Though the duo has some substantial work to its credit, both musicians still feel they are struggling, “The music scenario has changed over the years. There is lots of competition. We are just trying to deal with it all,” said Som.

Which to an extent is true for Som-Raul, as their first break did not come to them easily. “Nikhattoo was chosen after we submitted 17 different tracks and all of them were rejected. But instead of feeling low, we reworked a new track in one night. Manish Jha finally gave a nod to the rough cut of our song and we made it to Bollywood,” explained Raul.

The two wish to compose more romantic songs for Bollywood in the future. “Our song in ‘The Legend of Micheal Mishra’ was a situational song, but we would like to compose romantic numbers,” stated Som.

The duo is also looking forward to composing a single, but both refused to divulge any details.