Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 20, 2014)

It's been over two years since he’s taken a break. Every time he planned one, a film stretched its deadline and another followed. Pritam confesses he is an abysmal failure in time management even after a management grad made him a quadrant. "I don’t even have time to follow the quadrant,” he sighs, pulling a face.

But this time the self-confessed workaholic has decided not to sign any film till June-July and during this time he intends to take a few trips. “Through a social networking site I've found old friends ánd I want to meet them, particularly a classmate who lives in Pune and has been inviting me to visit him for ages. I also want to visit my hometown Kolkata, take my parents to an Ayurvedic health centre in Kerala and my kids to Disneyland,” he chirps with the excitement of a child.

From 18 films a year he’s come down to six and intends to cut down to two to three. Coming up are Shaadi Ke Side Effects and Holiday. There's also Phantom and Jagga Jasoos though the latter will probably arrive in 2015. “I’ve got a lot of offers post Dhoom 3 but I’m not signing anything till I’ve taken a break. Then maybe I’ll take on a few musical romances, a genre I like best,” he says.

Pritam admits that Phantom, a spy thriller, offers little scope for music but he was wowed by Kabir Khan’s script. Ditto for Jagga Jasoos, a detective movie, but he’s sure Anurag Basu will do something with the music and equally sure they'll be debating over the songs till the CD is out. He has a good feeling about Shaadi Ke Side Effects and wants to make music like Jab We Met, Life in a... Metro and Barfi! "Romantic songs come naturally to me but after a few item songs worked that’s what directors want,"he says.

Top of the list is Dhoom machale. The phrase came from Aditya Chopra and the riff he’d sing on the sets became its signature theme. “Today you can’t take the franchise forward without a Dhoom machale. I’ve re-worked the original twice and there are instant comparisons and disappointment. But if I don’t, there will be more disappointment. It's a Catch 22 situation,” he says, happy the franchise is getting bigger.

Any pressures from directors to toe a hit line? There are “but 70 per cent of the time I don’t give in and even when I do it’s never without a fight”. Occasionally, there are directors like Ayan Mukherji who back him all the way even when he makes last minute changes.

Was Badtameez Dil an attempt to esatablish Ranbir Kapoor as the modern-day Shammi Kapoor? “No, for me it was a tribute to Kishore Kumar. The gibberish lyrics reminiscent of his Eena meena dika. Had he been alive, he’d have sung it,” Pritam asserts.

Muses and references have got charges of plagiarism levelled against him. He admits in the initial stages he made a few mistakes and the tag stuck. But now he's original. His erstwhile partner Jeet exploded on the scene with Aashiqui 2. Any chance of the two collaborating on a score? “Our parting was amicable but I don’t see us getting back together.”

He impatiently brushes off a lock from his face and blurts out, “I will cut my hair so no one recognises me when I am travelling. I'd shave too but before that, I need to lose weight or my cheeks will pop out!”