Who is shantanu moitra

He started composing music for advertising jingles accidentally, when he was asked to compose a jingle at the last minute by Pradeep Sarkar, then the Creative Head of the agency, the jingle was "Bole mere lips. Moitra shifted to Mumbai in , when he started working for Sudhir Mishra"s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, his first signed film, and soon formed team with lyricist Swanand Kirkire, starting with the song, "Bawara Mann.

Even before Parineeta was made, he had created a song called Raath Hamari To, sung by Chitra, which Vidhu Vinod Chopra the producer of Parineeta heard, and subsequently on his recommendation, he received Parineeta directed by Pradeep Sarkar and later Eklavya: The Royal Guard directed by Chopra himself.

Moitra composed the music in a few films, but gained recognition with his music in Parineeta In , he composed score for his first Bengali film, Antaheen. Looking for a job? Back to Profile. Photos Works. Main Photo. Not just that, his compositions and melodies have travelled the length and breadth of the country, and Shantanu has even delivered tunes for Bengali film Antaheen , and Telugu and Malayalam film Naa Bangaaru Talli, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction Best Background Score.

At the beginning of his career, Shantanu worked as a client servicing executive at an advertising agency. On one such night at work, he heard a commotion on the other side of the office. There were no musicians and composers available at that point of time, and Shantanu was asked to compose a jingle at the last-minute by the then-Creative Head of the agency.

I was an amateur composer. The Creative Head was intrigued when Shantanu said he would be ready with the composition within five minutes and the only instrument he needed was a table.

Explore the other side of an entrepreneur in our weekly YSWeekender Column. Please fill in this field. You have been successfully registered for our daily newsletter. Edited excerpts from a rolling conversation with the World Wildlife Fund India ambassador and travel author:. Twenty-seven years ago, I left my job with a bank because I wanted to travel.

And I wanted to travel without having to ask a bunch of grumpy people for holidays. The answer was ad jingles. Independent music was the way to fulfil my dream of travelling, and suddenly I was free. Before that, I was far away from the world of music, just another good Bengali middle-class boy trying to make his parents proud. In that way, my love for travel led me to my love for music.

Moitra speaks fondly about memories of arduous mountain journeys, whether in the Northeast realms of Arunachal Pradesh 1 , or inside snowed-in tents 2 along the Everest.

Did this new ecosystem of advertising accelerate your journey towards independent music, and thus, independent travel? I was in client servicing, not creative. But it put me in close proximity to a lot of wonderful, talented people. Lucky Oye! We had dreams of doing movies one day, but back there in Delhi, it was a faraway dream.

We were happy in our own little world. But then I jumped the boat. Like I said, my focus was travelling, not music. Music was a stepping stone. For me, each day gone was a place not seen. But once music brought me here Mumbai , and things started working out, starting with my first album Ab Ke Savan , what excuse did I have not to do music professionally? How could I fight it? So I married the two, and thus began the next part of my life. Quitting without a back-up, spending days in the Himalayas—you have quite the adventurous streak.

I have always done these things in life. Here was a huge hit, and then my phone was off for about a days. But somebody who truly understands travel will know that there is no substitute for the lure of smelling a new land, of learning a couple of words in a new language, sharing a cup of tea with strangers in a whole new temperature.

For me, travel is an internal journey. I transcend internally when I travel. I loved the folk-with-a-funky-edge score of Gulabo Sitabo. Rooted in the soil, but fresh. Do you find a lot of creative inspiration on your escapades? Let me tell you a crazy story. There, in front of the U. Diplomats would move in and out of the area and Sunday was the day some of their discarded personal belongings would be sold off.

I would go there to buy records. Records in various languages—Spanish, French, Swahili. I was buying the records, but I did not have a record player. Instead, I would hold these records, splashed with photographs from Hawaii or Africa or Italy, close to my ears, and try to imagine what could be inside. Just the idea of travel made my imagination so strong.

That imagination has become the cornerstone of what I do today. You have a lockdown series of digital addas conversations with friends from inside and outside the music industry. The idea of these talks too, came from travel.

Many years back, I was trekking through Uttarakhand and made a pit stop at a remote mountain village. At around Soon, five-six other men came around, and this group of villagers settled down in front of a transistor.

At exactly 8, our man switches the radio on, and rapt silence takes over the group. For half an hour, they listened to a Vividh Bharti programme called Hawa Mahal, and for the next half an hour, they discussed it passionately. Right now, the lockdown is that place of restricted access.

This is where the digital talks come in, where we can all journey into the memories of these interesting people whom I admire, maybe even find some inspiration. The beauty and terror of the Himalayas is all too familiar for Moitra, who has made his way to the Everest Base Camp four times.

Another surreal story. This was one of my first trips to the Everest base camp.