A Presidency College graduate of the 90s, currently a celebrity in Mumbai, has his musical ear tuned to what’s happening at the Assembly polls in Bengal. But he ain’t talking.
The only time Pritam Chakraborty, the gifted composer who recently took home the Filmfare for his work in Anurag Basu’s Ludo, actively dabbled in politics was way back when Independents’ Consolidation (IC, which won handsomely until recently) was formed during his college years.
“IC was not with the extreme Left or Naxals, not SFI or CP,” he pointed out. “It was an independent students’ body, and that was the only time I was involved with politics. No way will I get into any sort of politics today.”
Fellow Bengali and fellow musician Babul Supriyo moved to the hurly-burly of electoral politics but Pritam won’t follow suit.
“Babul Supriyo has the gift of the gab,” he said fondly. “Even in his pre-political days, on any show where I’ve been with him, he’d have a great sense of humour. In politics you have to speak well. And you need to have a very strong view.”
Does he keep tabs on the Assembly elections in Bengal? “I follow politics very closely,” he said with frankness, “but I won’t tell you,” he laughed even more frankly. “I keep my views to myself.”
The boy from Presidency would rather “do humanitarian work. Help people. That’s what I’m interested in”.
Pritam has his own home-grown goals in life. While he’s right up there with more trophies than he can hold, his target is, “To earn love. Earning the love of the people is most important.”
The best time to chat with Pritam is when there’s no film to be promoted as he dwells easily on a variety of topics. Even over the way the honorific suffix of “da” got mangled in his name.
“Everybody thinks Pritamda is my name,” he chuckled. “Even people 10 years older than me were calling me Pritamda. Some who thought Pritamda was my name, would call me Pritamdaji or Pritamda Saab. Respect ke upar respect,” he added.
Pritam by any other name is a synonym for chartbusting melody and for some very special friendships. Topping it would be Anurag Basu, they’ve journeyed together from Gangster to Ludo. “It’s more friendship between Anurag and me,” he agreed, “but also because Anurag thinks his films musically. The kind of filmmaking he does is completely mad. If you see Jagga Jasoos, Ludo, they’re all mad people. He himself is a little eccentric, it’s reflected in his films. The good part is, he’s so musically inclined, he gives soul to his films.”
For Pritam, a song is a three-tined fork where the composer, the lyricist and the director are the vital points. And enjoying the process of making music with directors as young as Ayaan Mukerji and as experienced as Karan Johar has been the energiser.
“Ayaan is very special, a full-on charmer,” Pritam remarked. “I had a blast working with him in Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, it was like a party every day. Brahmastra is in some other zone. I just want Brahmastra to be a huge success because of Ayaan and Ranbir.”
From Rajneeti and Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, and rocking songs like Badtameez dil and Balam pichkari, Pritam also has a soft corner for Ranbir Kapoor. “Such a lovely person. If I don’t get a message from Ranbir that he likes a song, I feel, gaana change karte,” he laughed.
An outstanding feature has been Pritam’s confidence, exhibited when he started JAM8 (now with Prime Focus), a platform for new musicians. In short, creating competition for himself.
Pointing to the one-year breaks he took in 2014 and 2017, he queried, “If I had any insecurity, would I have taken those breaks?” And then he dropped his latest “breaking news”: “Watch and see, my next break will be retirement.”
He explained, “I haven’t been able to do a Bengali film, I want to do one. I want to do solo albums, I have some ideas. But big-budget, box office, I don’t want any more of it.”
In his own way, even in retirement, dhoom machate rahenge.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author
