Shantanu Moitra opens up about what keeps him busy and his upcoming projects
Nascimento Pinto (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 26, 2020)

Although Bollywood music composer Shantanu Moitra may have last worked on the Varun Dhawan-starrer October in 2018, it is his personal projects that have been keeping him busy since. He was first occupied with a project, 100 Days In The Himalayas with wildlife photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, he then went on to compose music for Chandrayaan: Celebrating India’s Journey To The Moon, which he performed at the NCPA, recently.

Being at the forefront of composing music in the film industry, the current trend of remixes may seem like quite a bore. According to Shantanu, while he is thankful that he isn’t a part of it, he knows the phase will pass because of the immense talent younger composers possess today. “When I started off, it was an interesting time because there were a lot of songs being used as part of a film’s narrative, which is really important because you can make great songs but how they are being used and what is their place in the narrative, is also crucial. In fact, when I was doing Parineeta (2005), every song was a part of the narrative — be it Kasto Mazza, Piyu Bole or Kaisi Paheli Zindagani — and from there, we moved off to a score. And I have done that in Madras Cafe (2013) as well,” says the composer, adding, “Now, we are in this phase of remixing old songs and thankfully I am not a part of that but I feel that too shall pass because we are too talented a nation to rely on old classics and that’s great but a narrative cannot be just that.”

The composer has had a host of hits in movies such as Parineeta, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) and 3 Idiots (2009), and his prowess also reflects in the fact that he has composed music for Bengali and Telugu films, and received the National Award for Best Music Direction (background score) for Na Bangaaru Talli (2013). His collaboration with lyricist Swanand Kirkire in 2005 for Bawara Mann in the film Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, is also a favourite among many.

Having been a part of the industry for over 15 years, the 52-year-old artiste says the hits don’t matter but the relationships you cultivate along the way is what makes for a better experience. “I thought I’d go back to Delhi after the first two years, and play football and eat fish. However, the last 13 years have literally been a bonus for me because I also got to create music the way I want, without being stuck to a recording studio,” he adds.

So, what is he currently working on and what can fans expect from him in the coming months? Shantanu reveals, “I am currently working on Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo with Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, and looking to take Chandrayaan on tour.” He adds that he is also working on a Bengali film after a really long time but remains tight-lipped about the details.