Movies will make way for music at Priya cinema on December 13. The cinema hall at Deshapriya Park will turn into a concert hall for a live performance by the music team of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s upcoming release Aparajita Tumi.

The concert will feature Bolly voices like Shreya Ghoshal, Suraj Jagan, Monali Thakur and Chammak challo girl Hamsika Iyer, alongside Anindya of Chandrabindoo, Rupankar and Bonnie Chakraborty.

Steering the show will be the film’s composer Shantanu Moitra, who debuted in Bengali movies with Aniruddha’s Antaheen three years ago.

“It was Tony’s (Aniruddha) idea to hold the concert and I thought it would be a great way to have fun on stage because we never get to see or meet the audience. Besides, audio launches are also becoming more about the stars than the musicians. Music, which is an integral part of Indian cinema, needs attention and respect just like a movie when it gets released. It’ll be a great opportunity to showcase the songs from Aparajita Tumi,” said Shantanu, who was in town last week to inspect Priya for the live act.

“I rarely do programmed stuff. Most of my music you hear is live and acoustic. So, if we can do it in the studio, why not do it on stage? The musicians on stage are going to be ones I’ve worked with for eight or nine years and have helped me give my biggest hits,” added the music maker of Parineeta and 3 Idiots.

Having taken a round of Priya cinema, Shantanu liked what he saw. “I loved the ambience. I recently did a music video with Zeb and Haniya for The Dewarists (on STAR World), which was shot inside an old and abandoned movie theatre called Capitol Cinema. That experience is still very fresh in my mind and I think music gets a perspective in places like these,” he added.

For Aniruddha, it was all about “wanting to share with people what I’ve experienced and enjoyed in the studio”.

The soundtrack of Aparajita Tumi has been produced by V Music, marking Shree Venkatesh Films’s foray into music production.

On Tuesday, Suraj Jagan will take the stage to perform the Aparajita Tumi song on which he duets with Monali Thakur. “Shantanu and I go back a long way, way before I sang Give Me Some Sunshine for him in 3 Idiots. I like doing work in different languages and even though my lines were in English, it was nice being a part of Shadow Tales. The song is quite dark with a sad undertone and captures a good part of the movie’s mood. We also shot a video for it.... I’ve always had some great shows in Calcutta and I’m looking forward to performing live in a movie theatre,” said Suraj.

Zara zara girl Monali is excited about her first project with Shantanu. “Singing for him was really precious. The song (Shadow Tales) is very different from what I’ve usually sung. It’s very western. The music is calm and intense, and the words are very deep. I’m overjoyed that we’ll get to perform this live in concert,” said Monali.

The playlist will trace Shantanu’s musical journey, right from Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Parineeta to Antaheen and 3 Idiots. The programme will be presented by Prabha Khaitan Foundation.