Veteran playback singer Asha Bhosle feels that the music composed for Bollywood films has lost the soul it possessed in the older days. She said that the only thing she liked in the present style of music was the rhythm but you could only dance to these tunes. “Barring Javed Akhtar, Sameer, and Gulzar, there is a paucity of Urdu songwriters as well as good music directors. As far as singers are concerned, there are so many of them that you are confused who sang which song,” she added. Asha Tai, as she is fondly called, lamented that the style of music prevalent today seems to be have lost its identity. It is neither modern nor Indian, and is actually confused, she added.
During an interview with Film Companion, the two-time National Award winning playback singer also hinted at how Punjabi and English songs ‘inspire’ Bollywood numbers. “Nowadays, the children are very smart. My grand-daughter and daughter-in-law tell me that a particular song is same as an English track. I would say that currently, our music has lost its soul to some extent,” she added further.
Bhosle also pointed out how singing styles of male and female singers have also witnessed a drastic change which she feels is not good for music. “In recent times, the male singers used to croon at a high pitch while their female counterparts sang in a low tone. It is entirely opposite to what happened in our times,” the Padma Vibhushan awardee said.
Was Asha Bhosle taking potshots at singers like Atif Aslam, Himesh Reshammiya or Mika Singh? Maybe, but the comments by a true versatile singer who has worked with the likes of Khayyam, OP Nayyar, RD Burman, SD Burman and others, does hold significance. It is also a lesson for the music composers who have adopted a shortcut method of rehashing old and existing songs for the films.
Also read: From Tamma Tamma to Tu Cheez: Bollywood is happy rehashing old tracks instead of thinking original
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