PremiumGrammy Winner Ricky Kej composes music for Hollywood film MR-9, which stars Frank Grillo
Directed by American-Bangladeshi Asif Akbar, the film also stars ABM Sumon and Michael Jai White
Ricky Kej is thrilled to work on his first Hollywood film as a music composer
Last Updated: 12.15 PM, Nov 02, 2022
Ricky Kej is Hollywood bound! The two-time Grammy Award winner from Bengaluru is thrilled with his latest project. The music composer has begun work on his debut Hollywood film, MR-9, helmed by American-Bangladeshi writer-director Asif Akbar. It stars Frank Grillo of Captain America, Avengers and Zero Dark Thirty fame, and Michael Jai White of Spawn, Mortal Kombat and Tyson fame. The screenplay of MR-9 has been adapted by writer Qazi Anwar Hussain’s novel, Masud Rana: Dhonghsho Pahar.
The film is a spy thriller and is touted to feature the first-ever South Asian spy, played by Bangladeshi actor ABM Sumon. Sumon plays Rana, a secret agent with the Bangladesh Counter Intelligence Agency. His character’s code name is MR-9. Grillo is the villain, named Roman Ross.
MR-9, which is currently in the post-production phase, was shot in the US and Bangladesh.
Talking about the project, Ricky, who is picky when it comes to accepting motion pictures, said, "I am thrilled and very proud to be a part of MR-9". Speaking to Deadline, Ricky added, "Asif has made a fantastic, edge-of-the-seat, action thriller with heart. We finally have an international South Asian spy who looks like us.”
Ricky is, meanwhile, busy completing the score for the Malayalam film Adrishya Jalakangal, which stars Tovino Thomas and Nimisha Sajayan. It is helmed by two-time National Award-winning director Dr. Biju Kumar.
Ricky won his first Grammy — Best New Age Album — for Winds Of Samsara in 2015. That was his 14th album and it debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart in August 2014, which was a first for a person of Indian origin. It remained in the top 10 for 12 weeks.
His second Grammy win was this year, in the Best New Age Album category, for his album Divine Tides with Stewart Copeland.
Also an environmentalist, Ricky has constantly used his various platforms to better the planet through his music, advocacy, lifestyle and action. For this, he was featured in GQ Heroes in 2020.