Abhijeet cries hoarse

Reportedly, Abhijeet is very angry, because all the good songs are being sung by Pakistani singers. He wants the film-makers to give gaan-jobs to sons of the soil. Here is what appears in DNA

"Abhijeet who recently launched his album ‘Lamhe’, also has the album ‘Dil Deke Dekho’ coming up. Quiz him about his playback career going in a slow drive and Abhijeet’s angst comes to the fore. He says agitatedly,
“Filmmakers like Mahesh Bhatt and Karan Johar are promoting Paksitani talents like Rahat Ali Khan, Adnan Sami and the Strings band. Those who do not get recognition in Pakistan are being promoted here at our cost. Very soon we will have a quota reserved for them. Even bhagwan will not forgive them. They should not invite the curse of Indian singers.” He adds, “Talent discovered through reality shows like ‘Fame Gurukul’ and ‘Indian Idol’ is also not being promoted. Music is art. To play politics at the cost of Indian talent is not fair.”



I can understand his consternation. There is this putrefying omnipresence of Himmesh Reshammiya on the Bollywood music scene. Whatever filters out of Himmesh boundlessly talented nose, falls into the throats of the Pakistani singers. If I was an Indian singer, I would be depressed.



But inspite of that, to blame the Pakistani singers for the misery is incorrect. These guys are getting the job, because they are making great music. People like Atif, Rahat Ali Khan, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and others are immensely talented guys. Not only are they good singers, they bring the fabulous lyrics and music on board. That's just too good a deal for the linguistically challenged Hindi film guys. Strings, Junoon or Jal have written simple yet meaningful lyrics (or atleast have used talented lyricist), which have resonated with the youth. In so many cases, they have broken new ground. Songs like Aadat, Woh Lamhe, Jiya Dhadak... stand repeated listening and are small mercies in the time of some atrocious sonic output from Indian music directors.



I had earlier lamented the lack of good lyricist in Bollywood sphere and it's coming to be our biggest handicap. I was aghast when the versatile and prodigious Anand Bakshi died and then Majrooh Sultanpuri passed away. Where are the song-writers, poets to fill the gap? Just the already over-worked Prasoon Joshi (not in terms of working on many films, just working in many fields). Gulzar is already aging and so is Javed Akhtar. So, just 3 guys. And where is the varierty of imagery and emotional expression, if just 3 guys provide lyrics for all the top films of Bollywood.



Anyway, I am all for these Pakistani guys. Most of them have a rock background, which is radical enough background to try to thrive in - whether in India or Pakistan. And then to make souful music in that genre - I can only doff my hat to these guys.



Abhijeet, shut up!