Shantanu Moitra: Rajasthan represents Indian folk music

When music director Shantanu Moitra was recently in the city, he shared his love for Rajasthani music. He said, “It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Indian folk music ka representation sabse zyada Rajasthani folk ne hi kiya hai. Rajasthan is the best-marketed in the world of music.” On being asked about the copyright issues of the folk artists, he said, “Copyright laws are the weakest in India. Such issues have cropped up various times when folk artists are not given due credit. The biggest fallout in the process is that the physical format of music is becoming obsolete, as everything is being digitalized. A time will come when there will be no acknowledgement or recognition for the creative team behind it.”ALSO READ: Dev meets Shantanu Moitra and Papon at Buno Haansh music launch Moitra, who started his career as a banker, moved to an advertisement agency and took up music as his profession after that. “I was 27 when I entered a music studio. It was too late then. But I was still happy that I pushed myself to fulfill my dream, no matter how late that was. Better late then never. I started afresh, and the first 26 years of my life completely vanished from my memory,” he said. The composer also believes that Bollywood music is going through an uncertain phase right now. He explained, “Today’s Bollywood music has nothing to do with cinema. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that songs in any manner do not belong to the story of the film. Any song can be used in any film. And they are not directly connected to the story. There was a time when songs were an integral part of the narration. Now if you talk to your director, his first reaction will be, ‘gaana kamaal hai lekin ringtone mein chalega ya nahi?’ A major criterion is whether people would like to use it as their ringtone or not, as that will add to their business.”