He's been a busy bee since almost seven years now - a hit-machine who has been streets ahead in mass connectivity vis-Ã -vis his contemporaries who have come in from
non-Hindi film backgrounds. Pritam Chakraborty, better known as Pritam, is the magician without whom no countdown show, celebratory occasion or even a pub DJ is
Pritam: A change of trackcomplete. He loves to be reminded about an awards after-party when he did not receive the trophy (despite more than one nomination) but seven of ten tracks there were
playing from his repertoire!
Delightfully for a musician with roots in Bangla rock, Pritam's songs resonated with everyone from the ethnic grassroots to the GenY metro yuppies and NRIs. Of late, he
has managed to curtail his work, allowing him the luxury of a less-crazy lifestyle where, as he smiles wryly, "my family has given me up."
As Barfi! is up for release, however, the composer who has done about 90 films (including as a guest composer) is pretty pleased with himself. It's been a great
2012 with Agent Vinod, Jannat 2, Ferrari Ki Sawaari and Cocktail.
We catch up with the whiz kid on a rainy night at his music room. During the long chat, there are a dozen interruptions, but those are the only terms and conditions on
which we can speak to Hindi cinema's most prolific composer today. Take it or leave it - and we take it.
Excerpts from an interview:
The first thing that strikes one about Barfi! is that it is very different - as a Pritam score and even otherwise.
The brief was retro, which was not outdated retro, if you know what I mean. The film is set in the '60s and '70s and the music had to reflect that period. It is based in
Kolkata, so it needed a whiff of Salil Chowdhury and Shyamal Mitra with a contemporary packaging. In fact, I remember Anurag telling me once, "I want flop music from
you!" This actually meant that I was not to give the surefire hit kind of modern song, but something with more depth and different from what is done today. He also said,
"When people listen to the CD, they should re-check the inlay to see whether it is really Pritam who has composed the score!"
The songs lack the characteristic simplicity for which you are known. You have always said that simple songs are difficult to make. So was making this score easy?
In a way, yes, it was. My main worry was only that it would sound like what I call "non-upgraded retro". As for the mass-appeal, the song 'Phir Le Aaya Dil', which
is like a nazm in the male version and a ghazal in the female one, has caught on. Again, I did not want this song to sound like a classic musical interpretation
of a ghazal, which in any case is a poetic genre and not a musical one. And Anurag made things easy for me also by looking after the lyrics, as he is good in Hindi.
Most of the tunes were made first, but I composed 'Phir Le Aaya Dil' only after Sayeed (Quadri)- saab wrote it.
Most of the songs are in new or less-known voices. Why is that?
I always like experimenting with new voices. A new singer always lends a fresh quality to a song that in a mainstream voice may sound very conventional. Nikhil Paul
George is a guitar player and has a certain different texture. He sang the cue track 'Main Kya Karoon' and Anurag liked it so much he insisted that I keep the
song in his voice and also use him for 'Aashiyaan', for which we were planning to have a more popular singer. There is also the fact that I had offered Anurag a
surefire hit option as a tune for this song, but that is precisely why Anurag chose the tune we have used - because he wanted something to go with the film.
Nikhil's hoarse to husky tenor is charmingly novel, so was it digitally created with software?
Everything in the album that looks like a flaw, is intentional and as far as possible natural. Arijit sang 'Saawali Si Raat' in a whisper and so became naturally out of
tune at many points. But Anurag wanted to keep it that way so pitch correction was not done.
Your tendency to try out different voices for the same song is looked upon as confusion and riles some singers who put in their best only to find that the version finally
kept is someone else's. Should not a composer be clear about what he wants and extract it from the singer employed?
I look at it differently. In a song, I always feel that the voice is the lead instrument. It is the only way by which a song will sound fresh. Sometimes the vision is clear: for
'Kyon' I knew that it had to be Papon and Sunidhi Chauhan, for 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' from Cocktail it had to be Kavita Seth, but my pattern of working is
more like a film being made on the editing table. Just like a director shoots sequences that he may remove later in the interests of the film, or reshoot them differently, I
have to do the same with the voice, though at times that can become grueling, as happened with the song 'Daaru Desi' in Cocktail. This was a Sufi-like song
that was not working till a Western female voice of Shalmali came in!
I also have my sounding-boards and I am constantly taking feedback. There are songs that sound attractive when I compose them, but after recording I realize that
something is not working in a good song because of specific reasons. So how does one save a song that is not working? Usually the solution lies in a different approach
which mostly means the voice. Ultimately, music is a point of view.
But isn't this too much of calculation?
I don't agree! I am a natural musician. I often take my song with me and roam in the car listening to it repeatedly, just to see if it works. The assessment comes if it is not
working. My decision is usually based on gut feel and most people allow me to implement it.
You have recently worked with two filmmakers who have formed teams with others - Karan Johar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra in Yeh Iawani Hai Deewani and
Ferrari Ki Sawaari. How were the experiences?
Karan is very clear-headed and he and director Ayan Mukerji make a great team. Vidhu-ji is someone I know from my Pune Film Institute days. I was to do Munna
Bhai MBBS when I was part of the Jeet-Pritam team but Jeet fell ill and they needed to get going. It was Rajkumar Hirani who introduced me to Sanjay Gadhvi who
gave us breaks in Tere Liye and Yash Raj Films' Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai.
Which are the films on hand now?
Apart from Yeh Jawaani…, there are only three sequels of which I have been a part - Dhoom 3, Race 2 and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
2. I am really planning to go easy now.
But if you have been managing fine, why curtail work? Most of the time, prolific people do come up with better outputs in Hindi film music.
What you say is completely true, but I have hurt a lot of people because of my disorganized way of working. I have realized that being confused and chaotic is in my DNA!
But I do not want to change that as it has led to the birth of new things in my music! But the reduced load will allow me not to hassle them!
BOLLYWOOD NEWS - LIVE UPDATES
Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection, New Movies Release , Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood Live News Today & Upcoming Movies 2024 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.
