On the final day of the 31st edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival, music director and composer Shantanu Moitra dropped in for an afternoon talk session with filmmaker Arindam Sil. The event, held at Rabindra Sadan and titled ‘The Art of Composing for Films’, took the audience on an insightful journey through the creation of some of Moitra’s most beloved songs for films. Sharing fascinating anecdotes about the composing process, Moitra enlivened the session by humming lines of the songs, turning the afternoon into a blend of music and memories. This engaging conversation marked a delightfully melodious close to the series of talks at KIFF. Excerpts:
TURNING POINT
During his client servicing days in the advertising sector, Shantanu Moitra worked with the likes of filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, scriptwriter Jaideep Sahni, and filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee in his agency, who were all a part of the creative team. Sharing an anecdote, he recalls a turning point in his career. “We used to work till late hours, and one night there was a huge commotion in the creative department. The team of singers from Bombay refused to come to sing a jingle due to some payment issues. My boss asked me if I could sing. My resume mentioned I had sung in college bands. He took me straight to Pradeep Sarkar’s room and left me there. Pradeep was the vice president of the company and asked if I could compose the jingle. I said I would give it a try. He asked me whether I had an instrument to compose it. I said I didn’t play any, I composed by banging tables! He directed me to the conference room table and told me he’d return in 10 minutes. If I hadn’t produced something by then, I would have to submit my resignation letter right there. Those lines were ‘Bole mere lips, I love Uncle Chipps’. This moment was pivotal in my life, as it opened my eyes to the possibility of pursuing music professionally... I was 27. I entered late, but I entered sure,” shared Moitra, emphasising on how the value of listening that he picked up in client servicing, proved invaluable to him as a music composer later.
LIFE’S CALLING
It was while creating jingles that he wished to create a whole song, leading him to a collaboration with Shubha Mudgal. “I had always admired Shubha Mudgal. I picked up the phone and called her landline. To my amazement, she answered and invited me home ...she lent me some kitchenware, and that led to the creation of Ab ke sawan… After she listened to the song, Shubhaji asked, “Shantanu, are you sure this is the song?” I replied with confidence, “Yes, let’s give it a try.” This song truly changed my destiny and opened doors for me to move to Bombay.” He further shared how a chance meeting with Javed Akhtar at the airport while collecting the CDs for Ab ke sawan landed him the role of a music director in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.
NATURE’S INSPIRATION
“My true passion lay in adventure sports, and if I hadn’t pursued music professionally, I likely would have taken the path of a mountain climber. Before a climb, I’d often sit around a bonfire with local villagers, sharing their stories and singing along. To me, music transcends just the guitar or a keyboard; it embodies life itself. I derive inspiration solely from my experiences. When I compose, I often forgo traditional instruments and let the melodies flow from within,” said Moitra. With Sil expressing his curiosity to know a song that he created inspired by the hills, Shantanu sang a few lines of Behti hawa sa tha woh.
“I never fully grasped what makes a music composer a music composer. This has always been an advantage for me because music has always been about the pure expression of sound and emotion,” shared Shantanu, explaining how he created the song Bavra mann from the perspective of literature rather than music, stressing on the words in the song.
APPROACH TO COMPOSITION
“There’s no single method to scoring. For me, the script takes a backseat to the vision of the director. I have encountered brilliant scripts that resulted in disappointing films, and average scripts that led to extraordinary outcomes. Cinema is ultimately a director’s medium, and my role is to support the vision and navigate the project to success. If I let my ego take the reins, it could jeopardise the whole endeavour,” said Shantanu, explaining that he picked up this discipline during his corporate days. “Understanding intention is critical, and it’s my responsibility to convey the director’s intentions to the audience,” he said, citing the example of how he created the song Bande mein tha dum Vande Mataram, where the director’s brief for him was to create a patriotic song from Munna Bhai’s perspective.
DIRECTORS AND THEIR WAYS
“The idea is to always start from zero, because a film doesn’t need my identity — what it truly requires is a melody that resonates with the narrative,” said Moitra.
Pradeep Sarkar: He conveyed scenes and music with illustrations. The dialogue, ‘Yeh dhoon tumne banaya’ and Saif’s retort, ‘Nahi yeh Tagore ki hai, stupid’, hadn’t been finalised, yet Pradeep had already mapped out the visual narrative. For one song, he produced an incredible 30-35 sketches. I truly miss him, especially as we celebrate 20 years of Parineeta this year, which also marks my 20 years as a music composer. When I recorded Piyu bole, he wanted a seamless blend of dialogue and melody, capturing a moment of unspoken connection. That resulted in the little humming of the song by Saif and Vidya before the words of the song and the rhythm starts.
Shyam Benegal: Instead of lengthy briefs, he preferred to let me sing for him and absorb what he heard. I was lucky enough to work on four of his films. He asked me to create a song that embodied layers of meaning — a love story intertwined with a compounder’s perspective. That led to the song Ek meetha marz de ke, beautifully rendered by Mohit.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra: Whenever I play something for him, he tends to reject it. Then, a few years later, he’s working on a new project and suddenly recalls a tune I had composed for him back then, saying it fits perfectly with this new film. He has an amazing sensibility for knowing what will suit a project.
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: I remember coming to his home to share some tunes I had in mind. We would sit together, but I could see him growing restless, which would frustrate me. He’d insist that something was missing. Now, when a director expresses that something’s lacking, it might imply a missing instrument or layer in the composition. But in his case, it turned out it was his breakfast. He wasn’t able to focus because the butter idly hadn’t arrived! Once I fed him, he’d be ready to listen, but his attention span is that of a sparrow. I believed he couldn’t concentrate on a song for more than 12 seconds. I sang him just four lines, and he declared it perfect. I completely lost my cool because there was so much more to the song. He brushed it off, saying to forget the rest. Out of frustration, I contemplated giving him a song with only four lines in it. What are the odds that such a short song could become a hit? Yet, the song Jao pakhi bolo turned out beautifully in the scene he shot.
Shoojit Sircar: He has always been my grounding force… there’s a powerful moment in the film October where the boy visits the girl he loves in the hospital, but she lies in a coma. The situation is incredibly nuanced, and Shoojit told me, “Your music should start where my camera stops.” The camera captures the external world, but it can’t dive into the depths of a person’s emotions, whereas music has that profound ability. I make it a point to visit the sets of every film I work on, even if it’s just for a few days. It helps me to grasp the atmosphere and the characters… I don’t have a rigid system; I’ve never learned from anyone, and I prefer to absorb the experience organically. During the shooting of October, I spent time in the hospital where they filmed. In an ICU, there’s a constant sound of beeping monitors — each beep represents a heartbeat. When the beeping stops, it signals the end of life. This sound became the inspiration for our tune, embodying the feeling that she yearns to awaken and share something, but her eyes are once again closing.”
CHOOSING THE VOICE
“When it comes to selecting singers, I always prioritise the director who has lived with the character. If the director tells me to make the choice, that’s a different situation, but I always seek their preference first. For instance, in Parineeta, it was clear that Sonu Nigam was the right choice. Finding a voice like Shreya Ghoshal’s is truly rare. I was fortunate to have her in my first film, and I still remember how she sang Naam ada likhna with such brilliance that I thought, “Is this my song?” With a versatile talent like her, there’s no need for me to search for countless other voices.
“The relationship between a composer and a singer is crucial. The more projects they undertake together, the more they learn to explore new avenues as a team. History has this, with examples like Salil Chowdhury and Lata Mangeshkar, or R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle. The longevity and strength of their collaboration allow them to take creative risks fueled by a foundation of trust. That mutual understanding means she knows I trust her capabilities, even when the score pushes her out of her usual comfort zone. I truly value that.
“I believe my melodies resonate well with Shreya’s unique style. When I craft a song, the voice of a singer immediately comes to mind, and I approach them for it. If they are unavailable, I simply won’t go forward with that song — I don’t believe in substituting singers.”
Further into the conversation, Moitra spoke about how people of Bengal should look into their own resources rather than looking outside, the role of AI and the need of the imperfect human touch to make it art. He also spoke about how his love for travelling inspired his music sensibilities and the role of music beyond entertainment. Finally, as Sil asked him to define what success means to him at this stage of his music career, Moitra concluded the session with his famous song from the film 3 Idiots, Give me some sunshine, interspersed with the words : “Our life is full of fears. If we live life because we love life, it will give us what we need to create art.”
Priyanka A. Roy
Picture: B Halder
