Pritam: THE HIT MAKER

INSIDE THE MIND OF HINDI FILM MUSIC DIRECTOR PRITAM CHAKRABORTY, WHO RECENTLY WON HIS FIRST NATIONAL AWARD FOR BRAHMASTRA: PART ONE - SHIVA, ON HOW HE CREATES SCORES THAT ENDURE AND SONGS THAT CLOCK MILLIONS OF STREAMS

- LALITHA SUHASINI

It's close to midnight when Pritam Chakraborty heads back to Mumbai from Delhi NCR. Over a phone call, the Hindi film music composer sounds animated, buzzed from a concert rush. He has just wrapped up a stage performance to a packed audience, alongside Norwegian electronic artist, Alan Walker, to mark the release of his new collaborative track, "Children Of The Sun". "It's only been three days since the track released, but the response has been terrific," says 53-year-old Chakraborty with child-like enthusiasm of the song, which also features Hindi playback singer Vishal Mishra.

"Children Of The Sun" encapsulates everything that the global music scene seems to be hooked onto right now Punjabi pop, glistening synth spins and party-starting drops. The track lists eight composers on its credits and three lyricists including Chakraborty, Walker and Norwegian composer Gunnar Greve, who was key to kickstarting the collaboration back in 2019. "The great thing about Alan's music and Scandinavian music in general is that it's very melodic. While so many of us worked on it and never even met each other - it was all done online - it has the same soul," says Chakraborty. "Children Of The Sun" indeed sounds like it could have fit right into the soundtrack of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani or Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva, which snagged Chakraborty his first ever National award in August.