WeÂve all heard of female directors, producers, and editors in Bollywood but sadly, there are only a handful of women music composers in the industry today. To name a few – Sneha Khanwalkar of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! fame and Alokananda Dasgupta, who composed the Sacred Games title track for Netflix. The good news is – we have a new kid on the block – say hello to Pooja Anita Das, whoÂs making a name for herself in the world of ads! 

With over 20 ads in her kitty which includes names such as HDFC, Axis Bank, ICICI Lombard and Zee, her recent work for OLAÂs latest campaign, #HeroesofOla has already created a stir. With over 1,000,000 views on YouTube, the ad and its music has received tremendous response and has hit the right tone with the viewers. 

ÂI have always been drawn towards melody. I am glad that I was given an opportunity to introduce my style, my sound in this film. Making a meaningful melody is my forte, whether it is an item song or an emotional one, says Pooja. 

Pooja started off as a singer when she initially came to Mumbai in 2013 after finishing her one-year course at A.R RahmanÂs KM Music Conservatory. She then worked with Yash Raj Films where she sang chorus for films like Gulab Gang and Dum laga ke Haisha. Things slowly started picking up when she got her first project to compose in 2015. Her composition for Cycle Agarbatti featuring Amitabh Bachchan got her noticed. This was followed by an ad for Rasna starring Kareena Kapoor, TVCs for ITC, Future Generali Insurance, LG, Godfrey Phillips, Tikona, Government of Karnataka among others. 

Pooja was also the in-house music composer for The Viral Fever for the past two years. Not many people know that she even released her debut album, ÂZara Hatke at the tender age of 18, where all the songs featured on the album were her original compositions. 

ÂThe main obstacle that I face is to convince people that a good melody is still the key, you canÂt take melody out of music and still have hit numbers, says Pooja. 

Born to a Bengali family in Kolkata, Pooja was exposed to music at a very early stage. She says her mother played a very important role in shaping her ears for good music. 

ÂComposing is spiritual for me.I can remember when my mother used to bring home cassettes of the latest music album every Friday. And slowly it became a ritual,Âshe adds. 

Pooja is also a trained singer and has occasionally lent her voice to a few projects. But she is clear that she wants to be known as a composer. 

ÂI want to compose for films and make meaningful contributions in the music industry, she closes on a hopeful thought. 

Check out PoojaÂs Instagram Page @poojaanitadasofficial