Umesh Bist’s dark comedy-drama 'Pagglait' starring Sanya Malhotra received rave reviews from the audience. Pagglait follows the 13-day journey of Sandhya, widowed within five months of being married to Astik, during which the former and the family perform the last rights. Sandhya is not a usual young widow - She does not adorn crisp white clothes, and doesn’t cry her lungs out every time a relative barges into her room. 'Pagglait' beautifully highlights many practices that are wrong with Indian society - From a woman not being allowed to marry her lover because the parents do not approve of the lover and a child being denied the basic games because she might fall and hurt herself and no boy would marry a girl with scars to couples forced to marry before knowing each other and a young widow being expected to not live her life after her husband’s death.
The movie is not just Sanya's solo lead film but is also Arijit Singh’s debut as a music composer. Noted lyricist Neelesh Misra has also made his comeback as a lyric writer with this film.
Outlook got in touch with both Arijit and Neelesh and spoke to them about their creative process, working during the lockdown, composing and writing music for Pagglait.
Excerpts:
Neelesh Misra on working on Pagglait...
“Working on Pagglait was a beautiful experience. I had taken a conscious break from writing lyrics for movies because I was not able to connect with the entire process. I am glad to be back in the industry with Guneet and Umesh who made the songs and lyrics such an integral part of the narrative. I feel privileged to collaborate with Arijit in his first venture as a music director.”
Arijit Singh on making the music through the lockdown...
“I am thankful that just before the lockdown I collected my set up and traveled back to my native place. I never predicted the lockdown to be for such a long duration but to not risk it, I collected as much as I could (music set up) and spent the whole year working on the minimal set up I had. Credits to my team who really made this possible.”
Arijit Singh on his music making process...
“Whenever I work on any movie, I always find the written script and shot script different, but this one had a unique sync between the script and the way it was shot. It was the same vibe so there wasn't a need for rework and I was emotionally involved in the script and the silence in between spoke so much, that it had a specific dynamic in the narrative and that’s done wonderfully.”
Also starring Sheeba Chaddha, Ashutosh Rana and Sayani Gupta, Pagglait premiered on Netflix on March 26.
