Ismail Darbar is from Surat, Gujarat. He worked for several years as a session violinist for leading music directors Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyanji Anandji, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin-Lalit and A. R. Rahman. Finally, he got a break with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam". Earlier Darbar had played violin for Jatin-Lalit in the movie '. Later, his music in Bhansali's "Devdas" was acclaimed. He did not work with Bhansali after "Devdas" due to personal differences. After "Devdas", Darbar did a few more movies but without much success. In 2005, he composed for seven out of 12 tracks for Subhash Ghai's ' after A. R. Rahman had left the project mid-way to complete an international assignment. However, Ghai would later say, "The music the film has turned out so well that you can't distinguish an Ismail song from a Rahman one".