He seems to think that repeating an untruth several times will make it the truth
A CHANGE OF TUNE
Bollywood music directors are literally spoilt for choice. They have a
wide plethora of voices to choose from. They not only get to call the shots but
save on costs too. The age of monopoly is over. Nobody is indispensible.
A.R. Rahman was approached by
Shah Rukh Khan to compose
music for Om Shanti Om. But he
had remuneration issues to sort
out - SRK said he couldn't wait.
So Rahman was out, Vishal-Shekar
were roped in.
By
RAJIV VIJAYAKAR
T
here is a tectonic shift in
the world of film music
and many shibboleths
have already felt the
shivers. Time was when
five greats - Lata
Mangeshkar, Asha
Bhosle, Mohammed
Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar - dominated our music world. Their voices
soothed, cajoled and inspired us. This is no
longer the case. There are hundreds of
singers now. They come and go like
mayflies. We hear voices but even before
we can identify them, a new voice has taken
over. But who cares? The songs are superhits. "There is a pool of talent to
choose from
and the age of monopoly is over. Directors
are no longer willing to put up with anyone's whims and fancies," says music
director Ehsan, of the Shankar-Ehsan-Loy trio.
But the old-timers obviously think otherwise. "There are 500 singers today
instead
of five," complains Nitin Mukesh, singer
and son of the legendary Mukesh. He adds,
"Some of the singers are outstanding
and yet the overall impact is
missing. Something is
wrong somewhere."
But then came A.R.
Rahman and everything
changed - perhaps forever. To the lay listener,
Rahman brought in a
new sound and a
so-called
‘international'
feel. His innova
tions had more
far reaching impli
cations in the arena
of playback singing.
Firstly, and most vital
ly, he reduced the
importance of the
singer. For him,
the human voice
was just another
facet of the composi
tion and perhaps not
the most important one.
Singers could be new,
could come from any
region or background. In
certain songs, he even experimented with
‘off-key' singers to enhance the ‘naturalness' of the songs. Otherwise, there
were
always pitch correction machines.
"Such singers fail to deliver the emotions,
for every song has an ascending emotional
graph," says Asha Bhosle. "They also do
not have the energy to sing for five minutes
at a stretch with the right breath control and
simultaneous attention to all aspects vocal throw, melody, rhythm, expression,
diction and modulation."
"Pitch-correction software can also
enhance your voice quality, and so even my
dhobi can become a singer," says popular
playback singer Sonu Nigam. "There are
established singers who should do a puja of
the computer everyday because their
hearths burn thanks to it."
Rahman also killed the importance of
lyrics at the altar of grooves and ‘metres'
(writing lyrics to fit tunes). Words became
nothing more than fillers of a pre-existing
catchy tune. And Rahman's success opened
the gates for a whole new brigade of young
composers whose musical taste was western or fusion-oriented. Most of them had
scant regard for raagas, meaningful verse
and good diction. Their emergence paralleled the growth of technology too.
"Film music is no longer made for the
story or situation but only to fit into a tune,"
says music analyst Amod Mehra. "Today's
youngster wants a new song to dance to
every week and another as his ringtone."
"How many people know actually understand tonal quality? That is of no
consequence at all," says veteran music director
Pyarelal.
Is the scenario dark then? Those who are
riding the wave disagree hotly. "Most of us
come from non-film backgrounds and dare
to break conventions like the mukhdaantara structure," says Pritam, the busiest
music director today. "This makes for lots
of freshness."
He does not mind experimenting with
unknown singers. "A song like Tum se hi in
my latest film Jab We Met could have been
recorded with an established singer like
KK. But I chose Mohit Chauhan, a talented
singer from a pop band, and he's done a
good job. There is so much of variety today.
So why not use it?"
Most of the recent hits have been with
new or ‘specialist' singers. Their origins
(Atif Aslam and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan
from Pakistan, Shubha Mudgal from Indian
classical, Mika and Labh Janjua from
Punjabi folk, Karunya from a TV talent
hunt, Dominique from jingles) do not matter as long as the song is a hit - even
if it
is for a few weeks. Who's looking for
immortality anyway?
There is also an economic angle. The new
voices need not be paid as much as the
established ones. "If someone can sing for
Rs 5,000, why pay Rs 25,000 or more for
an established voice unless there are truly
vital reasons?" asks a top music director.
Because of this, rates vary even for top
singers. "Daler Mehndi is said to charge Rs
2 lakh for a song and Sonu Nigam charges
about Rs 30,000," says a music director.
"But if a music director has to work within
a fixed budget, he can pay a singer less than
what he otherwise gets."
The days are gone when a singer sang
200 or more songs a year. Many top
singers depend on shows to sustain
their lifestyles.
The flip side is that no singer can
guarantee a hit as the legends could
do during their heyday. "It is true
that they guaranteed hits, fabulous singing, lasting value, great
sales and thus substantial profits," admits a music director.
"But we don't need all that
now."
The sales scenario has also
changed. "We have to generate
business with mobile-phone
revenues and downloads," says
Bhushan Kumar, managing
director of the top label TSeries. "Most of today's film
music sells that way."
In fact, it is the whole package which sells and not just the
lyrics or the song alone.
"Where are the lyrics today
anyway?" asks veteran director
Subhash Ghai. "As long as I had
Anand Bakshi, I could depend on
him to write every colour of song.
Now the music director, lyricist and
choreographer depend for the projec
tion of their work on the visual effects
supervisor."
But those who are in the thick of the
generational shift disagree with this
assessment. They don't think they are having it easy. "I agree that Lataji and
Ashaji
are greats but today's singers have developed a new style of singing," says
Neeraj
Sridhar from the band Bombay Vikings.
"Life is on the fast lane and there are more
platforms. The industry is growing bigger
and there's always a room for a new voice.
New voices sound fresher. If 20 songs
are to be sung, different singers have
to sing it. That's why Vishal Dadlani and
Shekhar Ravjiani, the music directors of
Om Shanti Om, chose a list of singers to
sing in the movie. If the voice is rotated,
then none of the songs will sound boring."
"We have some great music happening,"
asserts singer Sunidhi Chauhan. "Most of
my contemporaries are fantastic singers."
New singers such as Sunidhi, Kunal
Ganjawala and Shreya Ghoshal did not
have a cakewalk. They all had to struggle to
stay afloat. And have things changed so
much in terms of content and rhythm as it is
made out to be? "Everyone says trends have
changed but show me one completely
Western number that has been a chartbuster," says singer Alka Yagnik. "This is
just a biased perception."
Lyricist Gulzar also points out that the
cult popularity of his songs Kajra re Kajra
re (Bunty Aur Babli) and Beedi Jalaayale
(Omkara) shows that Indian melody and
folk remain at the centre-stage of new
music.
Says a veteran lyricist, "Today a song is as
successful as its run on television, FM et al,
which depends on how much money the
producer or music label can shell out!"
No wonder the success is shortlived.
Kajra re (from Bunty Aur Babli) was a
super hit till Beedi jalaayle happened. Then
came Mast kalander from Heyy Baby followed by Hare Ram Hare Ram from Bhool
Bhulaiya. And now it's mauja mauja from
Jab We Met.
Veteran composer Rajesh Roshan makes a
telling remark by pointing out that changes
in music trends are similar to fashion. Here
today, gone tomorrow. It all boils down to
catchy tunes that we hear on a sleek iPod.
Such singers fail to
deliver the emotions.
Every song has an
ascending emotional
graph. They also do
not have the energy
to sing for five min
utes at a stretch with the right
breath control and simultaneous
attention to all aspects - vocal
throw, melody, rhythm...
ASHA BHONSLE
Pitch-correction
software can
enhance your voice
quality and so even
my dhobi can
become a singer.
There are established singers who
should do puja to the computer
everyday because their hearths
burn thanks to it.
SONU NIGAM
A song like Tum se
hi in Jab We Met
could have been
recorded with an
established singer
like KK. But I chose
Mohit Chauhan, a
talented singer
from a pop band, and he's done a
damn good job. We have so much
variety today. Why not use it?
PRITAM, music director
Rahman's price is allegedly Rs 2 to 3 crores,
plus music rights.
Vishal-Shekar's price is allegedly Rs 40 to 50
lakhs. Also, it is believed that for big
production houses music directors agree for a
lesser amount too.
Rate CARD
? Most A-list music directors like Anu Malik,
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar and Pritam get
paid per song and have to shell out money from their
fees to singers, studios and musicians. The rates,
according to a music director, vary from film to film
and from Rs 2-5 lakhs per song. This makes the
music director opt for cheaper or new voices and
limited musicians.
? Himmesh Reshammiya demands a combined
package of actor-music composer-singer. Figure
speculated to be Rs 75 lakhs.
? SHANKAR-EHSAAN-LOY have taken sales proceeds of the music of Johnny Gaddaar
apart from
fees.
SINGERS
Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik are paid Rs 30,000
per song.
Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Goshal, Shaan, KK, Udit
Narayan, Kunal Ganjanwala, Alisha Chinai,
Sukhwinder Singh settle for anything Rs 10-20,000
per song.
Upcomming and non-mainstream voices settle for
anything between Rs 5000- Rs 10,000 per song
(Figures are approximate, vary from film to film)
Top of the
CHARTS
Music directors
? A.R. Rahman
? Pritam
? Shankar-Ehsaan Loy
? Vishal-Shekhar
Playback
Singers:
KK, Kunal Ganjawala,
Shaan, Shreya
Ghoshal, Sonu Nigam,
Sukhwinder Singh,
Sunidhi Chauhan,
Mahalakshmi Iyer,
Richa Sharma, Alisha
Chinai, Javed Ali,
Rekha Bharadwaj,
Madhushree, Naresh
Iyer (Rang De
Basanti), Mikha,
Adnan Sami,
Abhijeet.
Source: Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age
