Book Review: On The Wings of Music

We were meeting after a long time. I remember Shantanu Moitra who used to be the guitarist in school and now a successful composer in Bollywood. We were all waiting to hear Shantanu tell us stories. He is now on a mission to save Indian folk music. The stories about his early attempts at composition and more.“Remember the rock show you pulled off. We actually sold tickets – and they were expensive tickets we sold.” Syeda's comment made us smile. Talking about Springdales school always makes us nostalgic.Shantanu was having his usual fish curry and rice like a true blue Bengali. He said,“Imagine the principal giving us a way to sneak past the bureaucracy of the school. I truly owe her a lot and Sushmit Bose for introducing all of us to the world of Dylan.”“After all that musical education in Dylan, you had to make jingles for a while. Did you actually enjoy making them?”“Let me just say that it was a long wait to finally get a break in films. Of course, getting Shubha Mudgal to sing a rock song was a great beginning. I heard it in the strangest places. I was enjoying the rain in Delhi one August evening. It was pouring. I saw this car full of youngsters hurling towards my car at breakneck speed. I had mentally written off my chances of survival. The car stops in the nick of time, the youngsters inside roll down the window glasses to apologize and guess what was playing in their car?”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9PbyZnge6I“You have to sing Bawra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna from Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi. The lyrics by Swanand Kirkire are unforgettable. Remember Chanda Re from the film Eklavya sung by Hamsika Iyer – another of my favorite pieces of poetry by Swanand.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kSzausJY-8Syeda asked him what we all wanted to, “Why don’t you make music like Parineeta anymore? I love that music. It is truly my all time favorite.”That sparked off a debate. We forgot about food. We all had our favorite compositions.Shantanu said, “I really don’t know. Parineeta is special. Each song has a story. Everyone's joining that film has a story. Vidya Balan had gone through seventy auditions before she got accepted as the lead. We had gone to Amsterdam for the release of the film. The whole team traveled together. Swanand was particularly excited about his first trip abroad. He called up his friend in India on his mobile to listen to the sound of the breeze in Amsterdam for which he got a bill of thirty thousand bucks!  InPiyu Bole You have to listen to Shreya try to smile and sing at the same time – tough thing to do. But just listen to her doing it so well.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLuMqLxR0r4Partho asked the best question of the evening, “When a kid does well in Science, the parents know that this is a good indication that he or she will pursue a career in Science. Why doesn’t that happen when a kid wants to be a composer? How many instruments does a person need to know before the parents are reassured that the kid has the ability to be a composer?”Shantanu’s answer surprised us, “Being good in Science is no guarantee that the kid will turn out to be a good doctor or engineer. It is just a probability. To be a music director all you need to do is to dream. You don’t need to know how to play an instrument – though that helps. It is all about being able to imagine a tune. I have to have the full song in my head before I start layering it with a few chords, then embellish it some more. As Gulzar saab says the songs have to be nurtured. Just the way RD Burman did. Sometimes a song has to be nourished and nurtured over days and weeks.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n2v4nVwJGEWe had long since finished eating. The signs of food on the plate had faded away. We wanted Palash and Shibani to sing one of Shantanu’s compositions from Welcome to Sajjanpur.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj2kVORApuU“Zeb sings Jaise Mile Ajnabi so beautifully. Bilal Sami’s lyrics are awesome. This is the return of pure melody backed by powerful lyrics. That makes the songs so hummable. I would be happy if you made more such songs.” Shantanu bowed down in an exaggerated manner and strummed the nylon strings of his guitar.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2eJs09z1qk“What can be done to encourage more composers? How about increasing competition for Shantanu?”Shantanu missed the nudge. “There are no reality shows that let people showcase their ability to compose. You guys should sponsor such reality shows. Or when we invite people to sing songs composed by others during the neighborhood functions, we should keep some time for people to sing their own compositions.”Pinaki said, “Guys it is late. I don’t know about you, but I have to get to office tomorrow morning. One last song that all of us can sing together. I vote for my favorite song from 3 Idiots. Give Me Some Sunshine.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu3bXWhnX4Shantanu’s book On the Wings of Music has many such anecdotes and all the songs that we sang that day. The CD is part of the deal. Check it out.Spoiler: This is a review of Shantanu Moitra's book On the Wings of Music. The evening described here is created from the anecdotes that are there in his book.--------------Join me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri