National Award-winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji has added another feather to his cap, making his debut as a music composer with the song Ador from director-composer Indraadip Dasgupta's upcoming Bengali film Abhhiman.
Sung by Sutirtha Chakraborty, the song was released on social media platforms on Saturday.
Known for directing several acclaimed films, writing screenplays and penning songs, Srijit said music has always been an integral part of his filmmaking and storytelling process.
“I was always into the music of my films and the musical storytelling tradition of my subcontinent and I have always celebrated it,” he told The Telegraph Online.
The filmmaker said he has consistently resisted suggestions to remove songs from his films for festival screenings, maintaining that music forms an essential part of his creative expression.
“My films have songs and music is omnipresent and musical storytelling or narration is an integral part of my filmmaking. So I have always stuck by it,” he said.
Srijit attributed his affinity for music to his upbringing in a musically inclined family. His father was a student of Sudhin Dasgupta, while his mother learnt sitar from Kalyani Roy. He also recalled growing up around noted singer Aarti Mukherji, who is a close family member.
He said he had formal training in tabla and Hawaiian guitar and also plays the harmonica.
The director added that years of working closely with music composers had helped him understand the craft of composing and arranging songs.
Srijit has collaborated with composers such as Debojyoti Mishra, Anupam Roy, Indraadip Dasgupta and Kabir Suman during his filmmaking career.
Describing Abhhiman as the beginning of a new chapter, Mukherji said he has composed one song for the film and has since worked on two more songs for Emperor Vs Sarat Chandra. He also revealed plans to compose three songs for director Suman Das’s upcoming project Srirampur Diaries.
Explaining why he chose to make his debut as a composer with Abhhiman, Srijit said Dasgupta's confidence in his musical sensibilities played a key role.
“I guess Indraadip Dasgupta, having worked with me so closely for so many films, has some faith in my musical sensibilities and my composing skills, which is why I guess he entrusted me with this job,” he said.
The filmmaker added that working as a composer, lyricist and creative collaborator on another director's film made the experience particularly special.
“It's always special when you start off with someone else's film where you are operating purely as a composer... and you are taking a brief from another director and composing a song according to the need of the film,” he said.