The musician has composed for an upcoming English play based on Tagore’s works
Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (BOMBAY TIMES; August 5, 2018)

After wowing music aficionados with his successful Bollywood soundtracks for almost two decades, composer Pritam Chakraborty is set to tread off the beaten track. He has composed music for an English play, Sundays With Chitra & Chaitali, directed by writer musician Isheeta Ganguly.

Ask Pritam what encouraged him to explore theatre, and he says, “I had no plans to compose for a play, but when Isheeta approached me, I felt intrigued. I had heard about the success of her musical, Three Women. And when I realised that her play is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s works, I got excited. I grew up listening to the songs from Tagore’s dance drama Chitrangada, which the play is loosely based on. So the story and songs resonated right away.”

The play, which premieres in the city on August 10, gave Pritam an opportunity to rediscover Tagore’s classic songs after years. “As far as the melodies and rhythm structures go, I kept the original Tagore compositions intact, but worked contemporary, acoustic and layered rhythmic arrangements around them,” says Pritam, adding that composing for films and theatre has similarities and differences. “Making music for a play is similar to a film in the sense that one has to follow the narrative, plot and character arcs. But, for a play, the concept of live performing and dancing brings in a new layer of excitement for the composer.”

The cast of the play features Pritam’s wife, Barbie, which makes the project all the more special for him. “She is making her theatre debut in Mumbai with this play. She has a rich background of Bengali dance dramas,” says the composer, who took a month to put the music for the play together.