Shutdown Stories: Rohan Gokhale is spending his time in yoga, gardening and computer games

Rohan Gokhale, one half of the popular music-composer duo Rohan-Rohan, is trying to make the most of the current countrywide lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Singer, composer and lyricist Gokhale is doing multiple things to keep himself busy.

The music composer has started doing yoga. "I'm doing a lot of things," Gokhale told Cinestaan.com. "I have started getting up early to do yoga. I'm also doing my home chores. I have started doing gardening. Most of my time goes in these daily activities."

But despite engaging in various such activities, Gokhale makes sure to take time out to learn something new in music. Currently, he is learning to play new instruments. "Along with listening to new music, I am also experimenting with my music," the composer said. "I'm trying to learn new instruments. Like I'm trying my hands on the flute. I know some basics, but I'm learning more."

The duo Rohan Gokhale and Rohan Pradhan aka Rohan-Rohan rose to fame with their hit music for Priyanka Chopra's maiden Marathi production Ventilator (2016). After the success of that album, they never looked back and went on to compose songs for films like Sanju (2018), Bucket List (2018) and Thackeray (2019). Last year, they were busy composing for Bonus (2020) and Vijeta (2020) which were released on 28 February and 13 March, respectively. Unfortunately, Vijeta had to be withdrawn as theatres were shut on account of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Gokhale is also using his time to learn something outside his field. "I am learning about trading and how that entire system works," he revealed. "I have a lot of things on my mind and they usually take up the entire day."

Some people have taken the lockdown as an opportunity to take a complete break from their work and relax, but not Rohan Gokhale. He loves to work."I have not stopped working for a single day," he said. "I'm writing random songs or writing random thoughts that come into my mind. I and Rohan Pradhan sit down for a video-conference and just make some scratch for songs every day. I have a basic setup at home. That's where I'm a little lucky. So I usually use that setup and download new sounds. I upgrade my system. I'm also checking out what kind of new sounds, new technologies or apps are being launched that can be incorporated into the work that I do. There are certain web-series which have already been shot, so I'm also working on those."

His guitar and computer games are Gokhale's refuge when it comes to breaking away from the monotony. "Whenever I feel bored. I pick up the guitar," he said. "I'm also a huge fan of gaming. I have a setup at home so I can keep playing Assassin's Creed or Counterstrike. Now that there is a lot of time, I listen to a lot of BGM [background music]. My current favourite is the score of [the Netflix Original horror drama] Stranger Things (2016). It has a very retro, synthetic chill vibe to it that reminds me of the 1980s. Also I listen to covers on YouTube that other people are making. I have also watched [the anthology series] Black Mirror (2011) and [the Hotstar Specials espionage thriller] Special Ops (2020)."