Arijit walked away from playback singing in January. Pritam posted about unexplored roads on his 55th birthday in June. Bollywood music fans are having a very rough year.
Image Source: Instagram
Music composer and singer Pritam Chakraborty shared a note on his birthday about embracing “new journeys” and living life differently. The post led many social media users to wonder whether he was planning to step away from mainstream music.
Pritam Chakraborty was born on 14 June 1971 in Calcutta, West Bengal. He turned 55 on 14 June. Alongside black-and-white photographs, he addressed his fans directly.
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He wrote: “Thank you for all the wishes. Can’t answer everyone individually, but please accept my sincere gratitude. Today, I have decided to gift myself a few years to live life differently. To catch up on what I’ve missed.”
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He added more in the same post. He wrote: “Time to set off on new journeys, which have been kept on the back burner for long. Mainstream is a great ride. But I’ve always been more curious about the roads unexplored. Thank you for all the love and support. Always.”
The post made no direct mention of retirement. Despite that, it set off a wave of speculation online within hours of going up.
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The comments section filled quickly with fans drawing their own conclusions.
One user wrote: “First Arijit then youu..both retired from mainstream. Its really sad to see our legends saying goodbye to mainstream. Thank you Pritam Dada. Happy Birthday.”
Another commented: “First Arijit, then you…taking a break from mainstream Bollywood Music. It will be loss for them, but for a true music lover it will be boon in disguise. Waiting for some magical and musical experience….perhaps with Arijit again.”
Not all reactions were pessimistic. One fan wrote: “Hope you give us more bangers Pritam Sir, you are like a ingredient that goes with different eras of music and people’s taste happy birthday magician.”
Another wrote: “I think you are also taking break from music industry. I will miss new songs of Pritam, specially Arijit + Pritam combination,” while one more asked: “Pritam da retirement le rahe ho kya??? Tussi maat jao.”
The timing of Pritam’s post comes months after Arijit Singh made his own announcement, which sent shockwaves through the industry.
In January 2026, Arijit Singh announced via Instagram that he was stepping away from playback singing. He wrote: “Hello, Happy new year to all. I want to thank you all 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.”
Arijit clarified that he would continue making music and had releases planned but would not sign new films.
Despite not taking new projects, he confirmed he would complete previously signed work. He also said his pending songs may continue releasing through this year and possibly into the next.
Reports confirmed that Arijit had reportedly sung over 600 songs in various languages including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and Telugu.
What makes Pritam’s birthday post more striking is that he had, just weeks before, publicly explained and defended Arijit’s exit.
In an interview with Screen, Pritam clarified that Arijit’s decision should not be viewed as permanent retirement. He said the singer had been under immense pressure to continuously deliver songs and had become exhausted with the demands of commercial music.
Pritam told Screen: “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 a 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.”
He also revealed that Arijit had plans beyond playback singing, including directing a film.
Pritam also shared details of a personal exchange with Arijit that had taken place over the past year.
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.'”
Pritam Chakraborty is a National Film Award-winning music composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is one of the most successful music directors in Bollywood, celebrated for blending contemporary electronic, rock, and Indian classical elements in soundtracks for blockbuster films such as Barfi!, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Dangal, and Brahmastra: Part One.
He won National Film Award for Best Music Direction for 2022.
As of now, neither Pritam nor his team has issued statement clarifying whether his birthday post amounts to formal announcement of any kind.
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