Neel Dutt

Neel Dutt

Neel Dutt (left in the image) with Anjan Dutt in the premiere of "The Bong Connection"
Background information
Native name নীল দত্ত
Born (1979-03-17) 17 March 1979
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation(s) Music composer, Singer
Instruments Music, Vocal

Neel Dutt (Bengali: নীল দত্ত; born March 7, 1979) is a composer from Kolkata, West Bengal (India).

He is one of foremost music directors in the Bengali film music industry who is responsible for the resurgence of Bengali film music in today’s time. His primary contribution to Bengali film music has been to be able to connect with the urban & suburban youth who’ve been disconnected with the medium for the last 20 years. He received National Award (Rajat Kamal) from the Govt. Of India, for ‘Best Music Direction’ in 2012 for the soundtrack of the Bengali film Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona. (Ranjana I ain’t coming back no more). Dutt is the third Bengali to win the National Award for Best Music Direction from Bengal’. His predecessors being Ananda Shankar who won the award for Mrinal Sen’s ‘Chorus’ (1974) & Satyajit Ray for Ashani Sanket(1973) and Hirak Rajar Deshey (1980).

His notable film scores include The Bong Connection (2007), Bow Barracks Forever (2007), Ranjona ami Ar Ashbona(2011), Byomkesh Bakshi (2010), Madly Bangalee(2008), Maach Mishti & More(2012), Shesh Boley Kichu Nei (2013), Nirbaak (2015), Byomkesh Bakshi (2015).

Dutt’s music encompasses a variety of soundscapes. From conventional orchestral background scores to experimental electronic fusion based music. He is arguably the first music director in India to rearrange a Rabindranath Tagore composition with modern electronic music. The song ‘Pagla Hawar Badol Dine’ from The Bong Connection paved way for a whole new world of experimentation with Tagore’s music.

Early life

Neel Dutt was born on 7 March 1979, in Kolkata. His parents are Anjan Dutt and Chanda Dutt. Anjan Dutt, an actor and film-maker, is also a prolific musician from the 1990s scene of modern Bengali music. Chanda Dutt, his mother is a retired English teacher in St. Augustine’s Day School, Kolkata.

As an infant, Dutt’s first school was Mr. Pires Private School. Later, he moved to middle school at Seventh Day Adventist School, Kolkata. Following his high school education at St. Augustine’s Day School, he studied English Literature at Ashutosh College, Kolkata. Dutt completed his Masters in English Literature from the University of Kolkata in 2002.

Early career

Dutt was still in middle school when his father, Anjan Dutt started writing songs in Bengali in 1993. That was when he first began to accompany him on the guitar. The two went on to become the first father-son musician duo in modern Bengali music. Playing the guitar professionally with his father from the age of 13 was his first experience in live music as well as studio sessions. From the end of 1993, the duo started performing live and they toured extensively. He received his first Gold Disc from HMV for their first album titled ‘Shuntey Ki chao’ that released in 1995.

Film music

It was while studying for his Post Graduation that he composed for his first feature film for the big screen titled Bow Barracks Forever, which was a film made in English. He scored and composed the whole soundtrack including the songs. A four-year long delay in the film’s release made the film the second released feature film with Dutt as the music director. It went to be showcased in various film festivals all over the world and has been a recipient of quite a few awards and accolades.

The feature film that went on to become his first musical release is called The Bong Connection and it is a bilingual film made partly in English and partly in Bengali. The soundtrack was the highest selling album in 2007. The film was screened at the Museum of Modern Arts in New York in 2007.

Musical origins and influences

Dutt grew up listening to a lot of sixties and seventies British and American musicians, whose influence seeped into every aspect of his musical performance. He started playing the guitar from the age of twelve when he was still in junior school. It began with picking up a few chords from his seniors in school and gradually developed into quite a love affair with the instrument. He began to take private lessons from one of the most prominent guitar players in the country, Mr. Amyt Datta, whom the Rolling Stones Magazine (India) announced to be one of the country’s true live guitar Gods last year. The guitar then became an inseparable part of his life.

On joining college under the University of Calcutta, Dutt’s approach towards music started changing. As much as he still loved folk rock and blues, he started listening to different kinds of music that included a lot of fusion as well as experimental music. And later, once he started trying his hand at composing music, he began to develop a very strong liking for Jazz.

In 2007 Neel joined his friend and vocalist Arko Mukherjee, a fellow guitar player Rajkumar Sengupta and drummer Deboprotim Baksi to form Friends of Fusion (FOF), a contemporary fusion project where they started experimenting with Hindustani Classical & Folk traditions. The band released its self-titled debut album in 2009 from Saregama India and went to receive two Global Indian Music Award nominations in the Best Debut Album & Best Fusion song categories respectively. FOF successfully toured for three years and released its second album titled '4/' in 2012. The band split shortly after this and Dutt moved on with his own career in films.

When Byomkesh Bakshi released in 2010, it brought Dutt's abilities and his fondness for background scoring to the forefront. Dutt received the Etv Sangeet Puroshkar for the Best Background Score in 2013 for the film Dutta Vs Dutta. With the success of subsequent Byomkesh Bakshi films- Abar Byomkesh (2012), Byomkesh Phirey Elo (2014) and the new revamped Byomkesh Bakshi (2015) starring Jisshu Sengupta, the Byomkesh Theme has become quite synonymous to the legendary truth seekers appearance on the big screen as well as on television.

Dutt's subsequent scoring for Anjan Dutt's Shesh Boley Kichu Nei (2013) and Srijit Mukherjee's Nirbaak (2015) have received tremendous accolades from critics. In 2014, Neel started composing for Film maker Aparna Sen's experimental Hindi film Saari Raat. The release date is yet to be announced.

List of works

Music composer

Lyricist

References

  1. ↑ "Song Connection". The Indian Express. Apr 21, 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 Clutch, A; Splash, Making A; Guha, Nandini; Mukherjee, Promita (January 4, 2009). "Tomorrow's stars". Telegraph Calcutta. Calcutta, India. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
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