Bollywood music director Pritam, who has churned out the hit Punjabi numbers "Mauja mauja" and "Nagara nagara" in the recently released "Jab We Met", says he has the key to success.

"Now I possess the secret of how to make a hit Punjabi song. Just pick any hit tune and put some words of Punjabi in it. It becomes a hit," Pritam told.

The music director, who was recently in the capital to perform, is the man behind the chartbusting numbers of "Dhoom", "Gangster", "Life...in a Metro", "Bhool Bhulaiya", "Jab We Met" and "Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal".

Many dream of having a career graph like his, but did you know the composer thought he wasn't meant for the Hindi film industry.

"I started my career with composing jingles and was happy doing that because I always thought my kind of music would not fit in Bollywood.

"With the emergence of different kinds of cinema and the evolving taste of audiences, my music works."

Amongst all his many successes, however, "Life...In A Metro" stands out.

" 'Metro' is quite close to my heart and nothing can be compared to that. I had complete freedom and I enjoyed myself thoroughly while composing for it.

"Band Metro was created for the film and later I realised that it was a damn good idea to continue with it further. Because you enjoy a lot in a group and it is much easier to take failures as well."

Commenting on the freedom of a music director, he said: "Both - complete freedom and director's guidance - work wonders but it depends on circumstances."

"I must tell you that I hate 'Nagara Nagara' and called up Imtiaz (Ali) now and then to strike that off from the film. But he insisted... Sometimes, the director's sensibility proves better for the film."

Pritam, whose forthcoming projects include "Singh Is King" and "Race", says he has become very picky now.

"I have largely cut down the number of movies I am doing. Earlier, I gave 14 releases in a year; now it's only two. Because when after a long gap I got work I thought let's do it all. Who knows whether I will get films after them or not?"

"Success didn't come easily to me and I had to prove a lot to myself. But I have been lucky as some superpower paved the way for me," he said.