COMPOSERS SHOULD BE CELEBRATED: SHANTANU MOITRA
The music director talks about how singers are celebrated more than composers; adds that the latter are mostly shy
creating reality shows is not the solution [to bring them to the fore]. Most composers are shy and they prefer creating music in their personal spaces. Composers and compositions should be celebrated. The tragedy is, today we are celebrating the music created by the late composer RD Burman. However, in the past seven years of his life, he had no work. He died thinking he was a failure. Jingles haven’t changed much. It is a great platform for a young composer to know whether he has it in him or not. That’s because every day, one is composing for a new product and the jingle has to complement it. It is a great learning ground. Unlike earlier, only a few directors picturise full songs as a part of a film’s narrative. As a result, songs are relegated to a few lines these days. However, I believe that in the next few years, this trend will change. Songs and their picturisations will come back in full glory. If that happens, then there will be resurgence of good songs. India cannot function without songs. I’d advise them not to surround themselves only with music. They should do other things because music is in everything [around you]. They should embrace life. Gulzar first picked up [Rabindranath Tagore’s] Bengali poetry from his books, interpreted them and translated them into Hindi. After reading the poems, I composed fresh tunes for them. But because of the back and forth, the composition took four years to be completed.