Exclusive! ‘The flavour of contemporary songs doesn’t last long,’ Abhijeet Bhattacharya censures music directors

Abhijeet Bhattacharya/Twitter

Abhijeet Bhattacharya, the legendary playback singer, who has been in the business for over 38 years, has lent his captivating voice to some of the biggest hits of the 90s. From 'Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Mein' to 'Goriya Chura Na' to 'Main Koi Aisa Geet' and more, the prolific playback has to his credit more than 6000 songs in a career spanning more than three decades.

Although several of his songs from the 90s have been recreated keeping his original voice intact, the singer has not sung any songs for quite some time.

In an exclusive conversation with mid-day the singer spoke about songs, music and more.

"The flavour of contemporary songs doesn't last long," the flamboyant singer said, "You cannot sing those songs again." He compared the present-day music to "noodles".

"Today music is instant. The music is fixed, the formula is fixed. All singers sound the same, no one is different. Even after gaining recognition, you cannot identify who sang which song, until and unless their name is mentioned. All sound the same. Music is the same, instruments are the same, programming is the same, sound design is the same. Every song is being sound designed. Earlier, we didn't have to design sounds. Everyone used to have their own unique sound."

The playback no longer feels the need to return to the film industry. "We have made our songs and moved on. There are no music directors who are capable of making us sing. The music director expects the singer to sing like them; why should we sing so bad? A music director is a creator, that concept does not exist anymore."

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The singer said that it saddens him to see talented musicians not getting enough opportunities to exhibit their talent. Speaking about the differences in the contemporary music creation and that of the 90s, Bhattacharya said: "The old culture is not there. The old studios no longer exist. Today they send you a track and ask you to sing and send it back. How can we work like this where you don't know the music director, you don't know the writer, you don't know the director, you don't know anything? You are sitting at home, you get the track on your phone and you are expected to sing and send it back. Is this creativity? This is what is happening today."

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