Pritam Chakraborty reveals real reason behind Arijit Singh's playback exit

Music composer Pritam Chakraborty has said Arijit Singh’s much-discussed decision to step away from playback singing should be seen as a break, not a retirement. Earlier, several industry celebs, while commenting on the singer's announcement, had reportedly said he had grown weary of the commercial music space.

Pritam also said Arijit's announcement made him think again about his own plan to take time off. He recalled that while he had been trying to gather the courage to do it himself, Arijit simply went ahead and did what he wanted to do.

Why Pritam says Arijit needs a break

Explaining Arijit's decision, Pritam said fans should understand the announcement as a pause rather than a final exit. He suggested that the singer had been carrying the weight of repeated professional demands for a long time and now needed space.

He said, "He was singing so many songs, maybe he doesn't want to sing for now. Sometimes directors also pressurise all of us. I also find it hard to say no. Give him time, he'll be all okay."

The singer added, "Artists don’t retire. They take a break and redirect to something that is interesting them more. Let him move at his own pace. There’s so much he wants to explore. To start with, he is directing a film with an extremely beautiful and meaningful script. Also, it’s his life, his voice, so it should be his decision when to sing and when not to sing what to sing and what not to sing."

Pritam and Arijit have worked together on many songs in Hindi cinema and are widely seen as a successful composer-singer pairing in Bollywood. Speaking further about Arijit's decision to move away from playback singing for now, Pritam said too much was being read into the word retirement.

He said, "People are thinking too much into his retirement. Why are you giving him so much pressure? Let him do what he wants. He’ll sing when he wants to. Somebody said if he’s retired, why are his songs still coming out? Arey, but why are you bothered? Why are you after him? He has a life. Every artiste wants a break. A lot of things trigger us."

How Arijit’s announcement affected Pritam

Pritam said Arijit's decision also made him reconsider his own plans to step back from work. According to him, Arijit did what he had been wanting to do, while he himself was still only thinking about it.

He also recalled that Arijit had called him a day earlier and said he would retire with him, only to make his own announcement the very next morning.

Pritam said, "I've told Arijit a few times about retirement. Everyone has been to his hometown, Jiaganj, except me. He'd laugh and tell me, 'You wouldn’t come.' I told him, 'No, I am retiring. Once I make the announcement, I'd come to you, and we'd go to Tarapith together.' He was hearing this from me for the past one year. One night, he told me, 'The day you retire, I’ll also retire.' The next day, he announced his retirement from playback singing. After doing that, he called me and said, 'Aapse nahi hoga' (laughs)," he recalled.

Songs still being released

It was in January this year that Arijit Singh categorically said he was not taking any more playback singing assignments. He said in a statement on social media:

"Hello, Happy new year to all. I want to thank you for giving me so much of love all these years as listeners. I am happy to announce that I am not gonna be taking any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it off. It was a wonderful journey. God has been really kind to me. I am fan of good music and in future will be learning more and do more on my own as a small little artist. Thanks again for all your support. I still have to finish some pending commitments , will finish them. So you might get some releases this year. Just to be clear that I won't stop making music (sic)."

The 38-year-old later made another announcement, telling fans that he was still wrapping up his ongoing commitments and therefore, fans could expect a few songs to be released over the course of two years.

Arijit has since worked with Vishal Bhardwaj, Aamir Khan and Aditya Dhar, among others on hit Bollywood numbers.