Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; May 23, 2017)

Multi-composer albums may have become the norm in Bollywood today, but not many musicians are comfortable with the idea. For them, maintaining the sanctity of a soundtrack is so important that they’d rather bow out of a project even after having invested a great deal of time and energy in it. In the latest instance, Pritam Chakraborty opted out of Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer Raabta after the makers insisted on adding a promotional song by another composer to the album that was, until recently, solely his.

Pritam, who announced his exit from Raabta on social media, tells us while he has no problem with the multi-composer trend, he doesn’t wish to be part of it. “Some films, especially love stories, have a distinct soundscape and definitely need a single composer to maintain that. Can you imagine a Barfi! (2012) or a Rockstar (2011) with multiple composers?” he asks.

Lack of clarity on the makers’ part was another reason for walking out of Raabta, adds Pritam. “They should be clear about their intention from the beginning. I am fine if they don’t work with me, but I don’t want to be part of movies where there’s a gap between what’s promised and what happens,” he says.

For script’s sake Seconding Pritam, Ehsaan Noorani of Shankar-Ehssan-Loy explains why they, too, prefer solo-composer projects. Besides helping maintain uniformity of soundscape, solo composers manage to fuse the music with the story. “We feel if the music is of any importance to the storyline, it should be done by one composer, who can weave the music into the script. It isn’t an ego issue,” he says.

Having many composers on board is convenient for makers since music is merely a marketing medium for most films nowadays, he reasons. “The focus is on one song that the producers and record companies feel will give the movie a good opening at the box office. Then why not record one or two tracks for a film, instead of getting five composers on board?”



Good enough
Amit Trivedi says he can never work in tandem with other music makers. He says, “Ek gaana le lo, do gaane le lo, main nahin kar sakta. I am capable enough to deliver an entire soundtrack. I have been doing that for years.”

However, young composer Amaal Malik, who has worked on several projects with other music directors, blames tight deadlines for the trend. “Everybody wants the song delivered the next day. If you get four days for a song, you would opt for remixes or remakes because they don’t take much time. That’s also why multiple composers come on board for a single film.”