In our country, more than the people it is the media which is crazy & singularly focussed on the film actors and their lives. While that may sound very strange to many for in the west, singers are accorded as much print space as the movie stars, in India that's the staple norm of journalism. Media in our country completely ignores the talent, presence, popularity and star power of our singers and musicians. I am sure they are not even aware that our singers are as much a celebrity as any actor.
Is our media aware that for millions of youngsters across the globe, singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan are huge heartthrobs and mystifying idols.
Do they know that Shreya Ghoshal has 91,82,159 fans worldwide and gets 10, 599 likes a day on Facebook! As on 18th December 2013 she got 12,271,866 likes, making Shreya Ghoshal the 8th most liked celebrity on FB amongst Indian celebrities.
Singers like Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal are superstars on any count but not for the Indian media. A song adds life and colour to Indian movies but the credit for that goes not to the singers or the musicians but the actor on which the song is picturerised. Television channels hardly ever display the names of singers & music directors of the songs they play; they strangely credit the songs to the movie producers. Ridiculously, film producers completely ignore singers and music directors even during a music release. Magazines, newspapers, TV channels, music channels on TV, FM stations, they all talk about music and songs but finally end up praising and glorifying the producers and movie actors only.
Sonu Niigam, is one singer who keeps putting up a brave front and speaks out on behalf of the singers fraternity.
Excerpts+ of what Sonu says:
"Interestingly, Bollywood is the only industry where films and songs are interlinked. Bahar jo gata hain, wohi dikhta hain. Rihanna, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson never sang for any actor. I think a song should be accepted for its lyrical quality and its music and not for the actor it is sung for. Sadly, here in India, just because an actor is very popular, no matter what he lip syncs, every track becomes a rage. ".
"I think the media is predominantly responsible for why people don’t want to discuss music, musicians or singers. The media wants to discuss only cricketers or actors. Who’s wearing what. Which actor is hanging around with whom....Even radio jockeys talk only about movies and the actors on which songs are picturised. Rarely do they mention who has composed the number and the singer who has sung the song. Today, singers are not called to the music launch, which is ridiculous. Farhan Akhtar sings himself, but he did not bother to give credit to the singers in his own film (Don)."
"....the real issue is that people don’t want to talk about singers. I know what Neha Dhupia is doing. I know what Celina Jaitley is doing or, for that matter, which party Virat Kohli is attending. But I don’t know what Suinidhi Chauhan is up to or which song Sherya Ghoshal is doing next. And that saddens me."
" I remember how Shreya Ghoshal would go from one producer to another after her stint with Sa Re Ga Ma. Even after singing for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas she would go to music producers and composers to make herself known in the industry."
+interview excerpts courtesy of www.bollywoodlife.com
Is our media aware that for millions of youngsters across the globe, singers like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan are huge heartthrobs and mystifying idols.
Singers like Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal are superstars on any count but not for the Indian media. A song adds life and colour to Indian movies but the credit for that goes not to the singers or the musicians but the actor on which the song is picturerised. Television channels hardly ever display the names of singers & music directors of the songs they play; they strangely credit the songs to the movie producers. Ridiculously, film producers completely ignore singers and music directors even during a music release. Magazines, newspapers, TV channels, music channels on TV, FM stations, they all talk about music and songs but finally end up praising and glorifying the producers and movie actors only.
Sonu Niigam, is one singer who keeps putting up a brave front and speaks out on behalf of the singers fraternity.
Excerpts+ of what Sonu says:
"Interestingly, Bollywood is the only industry where films and songs are interlinked. Bahar jo gata hain, wohi dikhta hain. Rihanna, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson never sang for any actor. I think a song should be accepted for its lyrical quality and its music and not for the actor it is sung for. Sadly, here in India, just because an actor is very popular, no matter what he lip syncs, every track becomes a rage. ".
"I think the media is predominantly responsible for why people don’t want to discuss music, musicians or singers. The media wants to discuss only cricketers or actors. Who’s wearing what. Which actor is hanging around with whom....Even radio jockeys talk only about movies and the actors on which songs are picturised. Rarely do they mention who has composed the number and the singer who has sung the song. Today, singers are not called to the music launch, which is ridiculous. Farhan Akhtar sings himself, but he did not bother to give credit to the singers in his own film (Don)."
"....the real issue is that people don’t want to talk about singers. I know what Neha Dhupia is doing. I know what Celina Jaitley is doing or, for that matter, which party Virat Kohli is attending. But I don’t know what Suinidhi Chauhan is up to or which song Sherya Ghoshal is doing next. And that saddens me."
" I remember how Shreya Ghoshal would go from one producer to another after her stint with Sa Re Ga Ma. Even after singing for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas she would go to music producers and composers to make herself known in the industry."
+interview excerpts courtesy of www.bollywoodlife.com
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