MUMBAI: The great music factory of Bollywood is in deep crises although not many talk about it. The songs have no depth or longevity, playback singers and music directors are not clued, and most seriously, respect for peers and seniors has eroded, noted singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has observed.
Back in mainstream Hindi film circuit after a hiatus of four years, the ‘voice’ of movie star Shah Rukh Khan, Abhijeet, who recently sung for contemporary icon Ranbir Kapoor in upcoming “Besharam” (director Abhinav Kashyap) is upset by the state of affairs in the industry which he termed as “DJ item songs and singers with a shelf life.”
“In the last four years I have seen music rot. There have been no immortal songs in the last four to five years and the songs I sang six years ago are still being listened to. There are so many ‘besura’ (singers who can’t hold a tune) now. Times have changed; there is no respect for music or even the (music) directors. Is it Honey Singh’s fault that he gets to sing a bad song when the music director has no idea where to record the song and which tracks will make it to the film?,” he questions.
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This confusion has prevented singers from knowing where their songs are being used. Even for seasoned singers, it is a struggle. A major cause is lack of foresight and need for quick hits. “They cannot think of doing work which will last forever,” said 54 year old singer.
Previous generation of singers maintained respect despite the differences. Actors like Mithun Chakravorthy openly acknowledged the contributions of music directors like Laxmikant for making him a star. Today, names of the singers are way down the credit roll. When I sang for SRK, I had problems with production companies and not SRK himself as I didn’t want my name to come up on the credit roll when only the sweeper was left in the hall,” he pointed out.
Abhijeet does not feel like a relic among the new generation of singers. He claims to feel like he’s fresh out of college and that his voice has become younger.
“My business and professional sense is to be choosy with the projects I take. That is why I have always got quality songs never the vulgar ones. Having said that, I have sung for- Bhojpuri, Orriya, and Assamese films. I have also sung in Nepali and Bangla, along with South Indian films.”
He credits Besharam’s music director Lalit Pandit’s foresight in selecting him for the title track ‘Dil Ka Jo Haal Hai’ with Shreya Ghoshal.
“The song will be a long race horse and will be around for years. Pandit wanted a fresh voice and selected me. The song reminds me both of SRK and Ranbir. I feel my voice has also become younger and my singing has improved. I still wonder what a voice God has given me,” he concluded.
