Actor Chitrangada Satarupa’s debuts with a soulful song, Not a Dream, written and composed by her

There are many sides to the talented actor Chitrangada Satarupa. The petite artiste, with critically acclaimed films like Tikli and Laxmi Bomb, Devi Aur Hero and Tottaa Pataaka Item Maal up her sleeve, has just released her first single, Not a Dream, on YouTube. Surreal and nostalgic, the soft melody of the song takes you back to the era of The Carpenters with its ‘hum along’ tune.

“I have been playing the ukulele and covering different songs for quite some time. Last year during the lockdown my partner Sambit (a musician by profession) encouraged me to try making my own song. I gave it a try, spent a day all by myself, wrote and composed the song. When I made Sambit hear it, he really liked the song and encouraged me to release it. He arranged the whole track and produced the song and jazz singer Isheeta Chakrvarty made the vocal arrangements of the song,” says Chitrangada, who has written, composed and sung the song.

The lyrics are dripped in emotions, what inspired them?

The simple days we have lived without realising how precious they are, keep coming back in the form of nostalgia and sometimes as dreams. This song is an ode to all the yesterdays while at the same time is full of hope about tomorrow. Life in general inspires me to keep going and keep creating.

The video too has a surreal feel to it...

Yeah, we shot this in and around Santiniketan. Rusha Bose, who is my cinematographer and a co-director, found some rare locations and luckily everything fell in place though we were a tiny crew.

What else is brewing in your fertile mind?

I have already composed two more songs and I write poetry pretty frequently. I am in no rush to prove anything. I just directed a music video for an independent singer-songwriter and I'm planning to do another one with a different artiste. I have written something in Bengali too but haven’t found the right tune yet. I would love to explore my mother tongue more as well as Hindi and someday I would love to do playback for myself.

Any upcoming acting projects?

I’m currently working on two different Bengali web series.

Streaming now on YouTube.

sharmishtha.g@newindianexpress.com

Twitter: @sharmidas