MUMBAI: Singer and composer Abhishek Ray says he does not like to reserve his music only for Bollywood.

"I do two-three films a year but I am ending up making a far more number of songs than those getting used in the films... I thought if I only depend on Bollywood for the release of the songs then so many of my compositions would go unnoticed. So I took a decision not to limit my compositions only for Bollywood," Ray told IANS on Monday.

"My tunes are free birds... I let them fly wherever they want. Let them decide their own destiny. I released 11 singles last year and was awarded the Mirchi Music Award for best non-Bollywood music," said the singer-composer, who is known for music in 'Paan Singh Tomar', 'Welcome Back' and 'Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster' among other films.

Ray, who think that original music is falling short in Bollywood, has composed and sung on solo albums like 'Udaas Paani' and 'Raat Chand Aur Main' with the legendary poet Gulzar and composed world music albums including 'Ritu: The Magic of the Six Indian Seasons' and 'Raga Rendezvous'.

Besides, he has composed a set of seven classic singles written by the legendary lyricist Gulzar featuring the voices of Shreya Ghoshal, Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurthy.

Recalling his first meeting with Gulzar, he said: "Once I was travelling to Delhi from Mumbai and I met Gulzar Saab at the airport. I was carrying a CD of my compositions. I gave it to Gulzar Saab. After two days, I got a call from him. It was out of my anticipation that he would call me."

(Source: IANS)