Last year, during the release of his new film Metro… In Dino, Pritam confessed to SCREEN that he wanted to “pull back from commercial music a bit” in order to spend more time with his kids, who’d be off to the US for further studies very soon. But ever since then, he’s composed for three more films — Ayan Mukerji’s War 2, Shashank Khaitan’s Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, and Priyadarshan’s Bhooth Bangla. He also has Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan, Homi Adajania’s Cocktail 2, Mrighadeep Singh Lamba’s Naagzilla, Sandeep Singh’s The Pride of Bharat Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal 5, and Anurag Basu and Kabir Khan’s next.
In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, the composer opens up on why he wants to go the Arijit Singh way now and hang up his headphones for a few years. He also discusses how he wants to remain creatively engaged in his downtime and how a recent detox trip consolidated his plans to take a step back.
What do you feel about Arijit Singh’s sudden retirement from playback earlier this year?
No artist retires. I think you should treat it as just a break rather than retirement. Actually, I’ve been talking about my retirement for eight months. I’ve been wanting to retire ever since then. I’ve told everyone, but they just laugh at me. Ultimately, it’s not retirement, but just a break.
Did you discuss your retirement plans with him and give him an idea?
I’ve told Arijit a few times about retirement. Everyone has been to his hometown, Jiaganj, except me. He’d laugh and tell me, “You wouldn’t come.” I told him, “No, I’m retiring. Once I make the announcement, I’d come to you and we’d go to Tarapith together.” He was hearing this from me for the past one year. One night, he told me, “The day you retire, I’ll also retire.” The next day, he announced his retirement from playback singing. After doing that, he called me and said, “Aapse nahi hoga” (laughs).
Why do you think he retired though?
Arijit was under so much pressure to sing so many songs that he said, “I don’t even want to sing anymore.” Sometimes, directors also pressurize all of us. I also feel bad to say no to them. He wants to make his film now. Give him time, he’ll be all okay. People are thinking too much into his retirement. Why are you giving him so much pressure? Let him do what he wants. He’ll sing when he wants to. Somebody said if he’s retired, why are his songs still coming out? Arey, but why are you bothered? Why are you after him? He has a life. Every artiste wants a break. A lot of things trigger us.
Story continues below this ad
Have you been triggered enough now to finally take that elusive break?
It happened when I went for a detox recently. It felt like my body was hugging me for taking a break and not doing anything. It was difficult initially, but then I felt very comfortable with the idea of doing nothing. Now, I’m very sure. I’m not going to let my friends down who’ve been listening about my retirement for a year now (laughs). The thing is the industry doesn’t let you retire even when you want to. But I’m just so tired of deliveries and deadlines now. I had to ‘retire’ twice in the past for people to take me seriously. I did it once in 2014, and then in 2017. But those were also breaks of only six to eight months. Now, I want to take a longer break, of at least three to four years.
How do you plan to manage that, given your long list of pending commitments?
Yes, I still have about 10 albums to go. I’ve requested exit from the ones I haven’t properly started so far. And then there are some non-lip sync ones that can be managed later once I get back. Like Kabir’s next and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Dada (Sourav Ganguly biopic starring Rajkummar Rao). The work on Anurag Basu’s next (with Kartik Aaryan and Sreeleela) is almost complete.
Story continues below this ad
Kriti Sanon, Rashmika Mandanna, and Shahid Kapoor in
“Jab Talak” from Cocktail 2.
You also have Cocktail 2. Its song “Jab Talak” wasn’t received well, when compared to “Tumhi Ho Bandhu” from Cocktail (2012). What do you have to say about that?
Arey, why are you comparing the songs yaar? They’re very different because the films are in different zones. I wanted to tweet, “Don’t compare, just enjoy” (laughs). Just like Life… in a Metro (2007) was darker than Metro… In Dino, Cocktail was also much darker than Cocktail 2. And somehow, my darker soundtracks just sound better. That’s what I lean towards maybe.
Arijit wants to direct a film. What do you want to do in your break?
Nothing. I just want to focus on the little things that I haven’t been able to for the past 20 years because I’ve been so busy. Little things like I want to compose Bengali songs now. I’m a true-blue Bengali. I identify as a Bengali in every way, but you wouldn’t believe that I haven’t composed even a single Bengali song yet. I’d love to do that now that I’ll have the time.
Story continues below this ad
Also Read: Ram Lakhan’s Sonika Gill lost Khalnayak after accident, now lives with husband and his first wife
Do you think about legacy? Like how Asha Bhosle sang over 12,000 songs through her eight-decade career?
Asha ji was something else. Jeet (Ganguly, co-composer) and I worked with her on “Sharara” (from Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, 2002). We were just kids! I was such a huge RD Burman fan that to work with Asha ji was unbelievable. It was my dream to work with RD Burman, Asha ji, and Gulzar. They always came as a team. It was Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) and Sanjeev Kohli (CEO, Yash Raj Films) to get Asha ji to sing an item song. There was no autotune at that time, and she was in her late 60s! But she’s Asha ji, man. It was like left-hand batting for her. We were just watching.
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: