Pritam

An Indian composer who has written everything from jingles and TV themes to film soundtracks, Pritam is best known for earnest, emotional songs that combine Indian classical music and contemporary pop. He made his film debut in 2001, co-composing the music for the Bollywood romance Tere Liye alongside <a href="spotify:artist:2kkQthS9OLpK4UqNWYqoVl">Jeet Gannguli</a>. He had his commercial breakthrough with 2002's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and enjoyed a commercial and critical smash with the 2004 crime film Dhoom. Pritam charted with his Sufi songs from 2010's Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, and he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for 2012's Barfi! He topped the Indian radio charts with "Gerua" from 2015's Dilwale, and went on to win his second and third Filmfare Awards for 2016's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and the next year's Jagga Jasoos. His fourth came with 2020's Ludo. Pritam had another huge hit with "Kesariya" from 2022's Brahmastra, which garnered hundreds of millions of streams and led to another Filmfare Award. His soundtrack for the 2025 film War 2 focused on showcasing the dance moves of its lead actors. By that time, he was one of the most popular Indian artists on streaming services, along with <a href="spotify:artist:1mYsTxnqsietFxj1OgoGbG">A.R. Rahman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4YRxDV8wJFPHPTeXepOstw">Arijit Singh</a>.

Pritam Chakraborty's father once ran a music school, and he taught his son to play guitar at a young age. The Calcutta-born Pritam went on to earn a bachelor's degree in geology from Presidency College. He next studied sound recording and engineering at FTII (Film and Television Institute of India). He played guitar in a band with his friends from Presidency, and briefly joined the socio-politically aware band <a href="spotify:artist:3s2LsebrVEhZQd5yVdap62">Chandrabindoo</a>. His first job after finishing at FTII in the late '90s was writing ad jingles and television themes in Mumbai.

He got his first break into film as co-composer with <a href="spotify:artist:2kkQthS9OLpK4UqNWYqoVl">Jeet Gannguli</a> on the 2001 teenage drama Tere Liye. The composers teamed again on the next year's Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, and this time their soundtrack was a hit. Splitting from <a href="spotify:artist:2kkQthS9OLpK4UqNWYqoVl">Gannguli</a>, Pritam had a major hit soundtrack of his own with 2004's Dhoom, for which he received his first Filmfare Award nomination for Best Music Director. With 2010's Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, he charted with Sufi songs like "Pee Loon" and "Tum Jo Aaye" and earned his eighth career Filmfare nomination. He won the award for the first time for his work on 2012's Barfi!, a romantic comedy. He had a major Indian radio hit with "Gerua" from 2015's Dilwale. His second and third Filmfare Awards were for 2016's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and 2017's Jagga Jasoos. Pritam went on to win his fourth Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for the 2020 crime film Ludo.

Meanwhile, his popularity on international streaming services soared, and he accumulated hundreds of millions of plays for the love song "Kesariya" from 2022's Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, an action-adventure-fantasy film that established the Astraverse cinematic universe. The soundtrack won Pritam his fifth Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, and he won again for 2023's Animal, a prize he shared with a number of other songwriters. With a mandate to showcase the dance skills of its lead actors, he focused on dance-friendly material for 2025's War 2. Pritam received his industry-leading 26th Best Music Director Filmfare nomination for that year's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. At that point, only <a href="spotify:artist:1mYsTxnqsietFxj1OgoGbG">A.R. Rahman</a> had more wins, and <a href="spotify:artist:4YRxDV8wJFPHPTeXepOstw">Arijit Singh</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1mYsTxnqsietFxj1OgoGbG">Rahman</a>, and Pritam were the top three Indian artists on leading streaming services. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi