Pritam

Who is Pritam?

Pritam Chakraborty (born 14 June 1971), known mononymously as Pritam, is a National Film Award-winning Indian composer who has scored more than 125 Bollywood films and become one of the industry's most commercially dependable and stylistically versatile music directors. From breezy pop to sweeping romance to rock, his fingerprints are on a remarkable share of the last two decades' biggest soundtracks.

Early life and education

Born into a Bengali family in Kolkata, Pritam took his first music lessons from his father, who ran a music school, and picked up the guitar in his school years. He studied geology at the prestigious Presidency College before changing course entirely, joining the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 1994 to train in sound recording and engineering — a technical grounding that still shapes how he produces.

Bands and early years

Music came first through bands: he played guitar in the college group Jotugriher Pakhi, was associated with the popular Bengali band Chandrabindoo, and later formed a band called Metro. Arriving in Mumbai in 1997, he built his early career composing advertising jingles for brands such as Santro, Thums Up, Limca and Complan, crossing paths with future collaborators including Shantanu Moitra and director Rajkumar Hirani.

Breakthrough and acclaim

His first major break came with the high-octane soundtrack of Dhoom (2004), and his richly melodic work for Anurag Basu's Life in a... Metro (2007) won him serious critical respect. Early in his career he faced criticism over tunes said to be inspired by other songs, but he steadily evolved into one of the most original and acclaimed composers of his generation.

An era-defining catalogue

Pritam has defined the sound of countless modern classics — Jab We Met, Barfi!, Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Brahmāstra and Animal among them — and is also a major live draw with his concert act. His long partnership with singer Arijit Singh and lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya has produced some of Bollywood's most-loved love songs.

The Cocktail films

He scored the original Cocktail (2012) and returned fourteen years later for Cocktail 2 (2026), bookending the franchise with his own sound, led by the ballad Leher.

Awards and legacy

Across a career spanning more than two decades, he has won a National Film Award (2022) and nine Filmfare Awards, cementing his place among the most decorated and bankable composers in Hindi cinema.