THE HIT MACHINE
With Pritam Chakraborty’s songs for Laal Singh Chaddha and Brahmastra topping the charts, the music director demonstrates why he is the music director Bollywood prefers for its blockbusters
Q: It’s been 21 years since your first soundtrack— for Tere Liye—dropped. What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned over your two decades in Bollywood?
Success is short-lived. Don’t be complacent and arrogant about it. You need to enjoy the process. The film you’re working in and the people you’re working with matter. Fight for what you believe in. In the long run, nothing is more important than the quality of your work. PR and social media can boost it to some extent, but hard work is the only thing that counts in the long run.
Q: Many of your contemporaries are creating their own music outside the film soundtrack paradigm. As someone who started off playing in bands, is that something you might be interested in returning to?
Not now. I have taken up too much work. I need to finish those projects. Doing non-film work and Bengali movies has always been on my mind, but I haven’t been able to take out any time for that. Maybe in the near future. I want to leave Hindi film commercial music soon and concentrate on the kind of music I like, and Bengali music, too.
Q: How do you feel about the recent loss of KK, a close friend and long-time collaborator?
I can’t believe he is gone. When his last remains were brought to Mumbai, I had Covid. I couldn’t go. There’s no closure in my subconscious. In a recent music meeting, I took KK’s name, wanting him to sing on a particular song. The studio went silent. At a recent live gig, I saw his pics and videos on this big screen. I just had a meltdown and wept. His loss comes up out of the blue, and I don’t know what to do.
Q: You acknowledged a few mistakes from your early years vis-a-vis plagiarism, but fans have again accused you of it for ‘Kesariya’ from Brahmastra….
Not fans. Fans know I will not do anything like that post my interview where I acknowledged the mistakes. I am still here because of them. The problems come from untrained ears that tend to jump to conclusions after hearing generic grooves, or common melodic and harmonic progressions.