MUMBAI: The trend of suggestive and vulgar lyrics in bollywood songs to woo the youth is somehere leading to a breakdown of the rich indian music culture. Titled as ‘item songs’, these musical productions have become a source of raking in moolah. Staying true to the craft of writing, national award winning lyricist Prasoon Joshi believes that there is good music being created even today and that is the one that will take the industry forward.
Having penned meaningful and chartbusting songs in films like Rang de Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Delhi 6, Fanaa and more, Joshi also blames the audiences for accepting the new trend of bold and crass lyrics being used in films today.
Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, Joshi said, “The creators will continue making such music but it also depends on how the people respond to it. If they want they can always reject it or refuse to listen to it, but they accept it. And as long as there are takers for such music, people will create it.”
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In recent times, songs like Fevicol, Hookah Bar, Ishq ki Maa ki, Halkat Jawaani, Laila, Dil Garden Garden Ho Gaya, DK Bose, The Mutton Song, Dreamum Wakeupum, Ooh La La and more have all come under the scanner and received a lot of criticism from the industry and audiences as well.
While many termed them as crass meaningless songs that led to a furor on the future of music in India and bollywood, there was a set of people who made them popular through ringtones, parties and more. This further fuelled mediums like radio and television to increase their rotation of these songs stating a higher level of consumption.
As industry insider states that people don’t want good music today, they want to listen to popular music only; rhymester Joshi also can’t help but agree to the same.
He mentioned, “I agree that there is not enough good music in the industry today. Out of all the songs being released today, very few of them will be heard and remembered later. It might be serving some purpose today but it won’t matter in the long run. It actually depends on the creators what they want; a good tune to be remembered in the future or something meaningless and popular for a short time. Its difficult because people don’t come to the industry to change things, they come to express themselves.”
But Joshi claims that as long as there is a market for such music, it will continue to dominate the television screens and listening patterns of the audiences. Therefore, he as a lyricist has drawn a line for himself in terms of the words he pens each time. While on one hand he has penned ‘Masakali’, he has also gone ahead and written one like ‘Masti ki Paathshaala’; but that is where the line stands. His current projects also include Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (also scripted by him) and Satyagraha.
“Why do we only blame the creator of such music, when there are people consuming such bold lyrics? We should also blame the people who listen to it and ask them why they encourage such music. There is a market for such music and it will continue to remain so in the future as well,” he added.
Trying to move away from the current scenario in bollywood, the lyricist has been roped in to pen the anthem of the upcoming Indian Badminton League in August. The tournament will be held from 14-31 August in six major cities across India, and will witness almost all the top-rung badminton players from around the world participating in the same.
Having written various such anthems earlier for the Indian Hockey League, IPL and University Cricket amongst others, he aims to capture the true spirit of badminton through the song and promote it like any other well known sport in the country.
Talking about the project, he said, “I want to capture the basic thought of badminton as a game. It binds people and opens doors to everyone. It is a very large hearted and accommodating game. I want to capture this essence through the anthem. Although, I am still working on the details of the song, I will make sure it has some inspirational value and sounds like a proper song.”
