Who's got the mike now?- Femina

Continued...

Like fashion, food habits or even the weather for that matter, music keeps changing, whichever part of the world you are in. It all depends on what people are ready to listen to at that particular time and that depends on the trend that is predominant then - drums and bass or trance or hip-hop. I believe, there's good music and there's bad music. Technically, there was a stage in the '80s when the music was terrible.

The industry was besieged by lyrics with double meanings and cheap dance sequences. We are still suffering the results of that phase. There was such bad music in Bollywood that people lost faith in Hindi film music. We are now trying to repair what can only be described as a smashed car. Now people have become more aware. There is easier access to international music. On radio and TV, suddenly your song will be played after Sting's. I am talking about talented musicians who want to make a difference, who want to maintain the melodic aspect of Indian music.

Which brings us to the singers. In today's age of experimental and young, open music minds, playback singing is much more accessible than it was in the yesteryears. Learned singers are going to prosper. Singers who are trained and can sing in 'sur'. When I mean learned, I don't mean experienced. There are many experienced singers who've made it big with one hit but sing like they're searching in the dark, not knowing what they're doing. They are the real strugglers, because they struggle in the studio, where it takes them hours to get in a line. We listen to every single demo that comes to us. We encourage new talent. Yes, the stakes are high. We have to fight to convince the producers and directors to trust us when we put forth a new voice. But now after 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho', we have credibility. I believe that a fresh voice adds freshness to the melody. You know, in 'Lakshya', the chorus in 'Mein aisa kyun hoon', is sung by our studio engineers and technicians. It's a mad song... and it demanded a note of madness. I say, listen to all kinds of sounds. Today's young playback singers should listen to music other than from Bollywood. They should learn to listen and adapt the best of all sounds. Every sound is music. Listening is today's guru.

Shankar Mahadevan

Music Director Raju Singh

From the new girls, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sowmya, Nihira Joshi, Mahalakshmi and Sonu Kakkar are really good. You know, when we were making 'Dhuan', we thought the obvious choice would be Sunidhi. In fact we even considered asking Ashaji. Then Javed 'saab' suggested Mahalakshmi. I had just worked with her for a television serial so I knew she was excellent. But the song was very different from the stuff she had been singing. Well, we gave it a shot and the outcome, as you know, was brilliant. She's put everything into that song. Now things work very quickly. In the olden days, there would be rehearsals with the orchestra and the singer some 15 days before recording. Now, with dubbing and new techniques, it's usually a day before or right on the day of recording that the singers listen to the song. Ashaji still asks for the tape in advance. When she comes to the studio, she knows the song well."

Music Director Anu Malik

I adore the greats from the past. But I can't usually say I have my favourites. It depends on a song, a time and a mood. Ashaji has provoked me to try and explore different domains of music. One thing that I have noticed is that though most of the singers today are very talented, they need to constantly upgrade their style. Why does my music work? Somewhere I'd like to believe that my soul, my blood runs through my work. I've completely upgraded the Qawali with 'Main Hoon Na'. I auditioned many singers recently and realised that most of them sounded the same. Many even depend on the technology that we use to hide their limitations. That's not the right attitude. The ones who sing with the maximum conviction will make it big. They don't have to imitate Lataji. They can be inspired, but they must put their individualism to their songs. Gayatri Iyer has sung the title track of 'Elaan' for me and it's brilliant.

Music Director Ranjeet Barot

I think Sunidhi Chauhan, Dominique, Shreya Ghoshal, Sadhana Sargam, Gayatri Iyer and Nandini Shrikar are really good. I need to be excited by a voice - I don't care whether she's famous or if everybody is listening to her. I like to be unpredictable. A song must not be dependent on the singer. If it's a good song, even a reasonably good voice will work. The trick is to find the right voice for your work. I listen to CDs and demos that come to me. There's loads of talent out there... you never know when you'll find a magical voice. Unfortunately, it requires good networking to make it big.

Continued...

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