How would our great old singers have fared today?
After a number of years of not having subscriptions any Hindi Channels, we very recently got our own "Zee TV" subscription. My lack of knowledge about all things "modern" in the film world must have been seen by a number of my observant readers -- and now you know how I zealously guarded my ignorance over all these years. While virtually all my friends had some or the other Hindi channel playing on their TVs when we would go visiting, I stayed away.
With this almost Rip-van-Winkle-esque backdrop, picture me sitting comfortably in front of my TV, and switching channels to my newly acquired Z TV. As luck would have it, there was "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Ek Main aur Ek Tu" playing. Aha! A chance to watch young talented men and women sing. I perked up in my seat. Suffering through numerous C grade ads touting Ajmeri baba, I sat through the entire program. Well, imagine my total surprise when I heard of the stupendous amounts of prize money and contracts that awaited the winner of the contest! 50 Lakhs! Boy, had things changed! And somewhere through that program, I found my thoughts drifting, even as I was listening to these very talented young people do their stuff. Replace this with any other talent shows such as Indian Idol, and my point would still stand.
This was no longer the old "Sa Re Ga Ma" I remember seeing before I left the shores of India. Then, it was all about the singing, the quality of the voice, the training. Now, it is all that AND the ability to present, to sing AND dance, to be an "entertainer" not just a singer. Perhaps the bar has been raised in some ways, but perhaps it has been lowered in certain others. Then, of course, there is this ludicrous and ubiquitous SMS messaging which determines the winner, and not the panel of judges, who, at least supposedly, are there because of their knowledge and experience. Supposedly democracy at work, where masses-with-cellphones-who-vote decide whether a singer (umm.. performer) makes the cut or not.
I was thinking about the old brigade of our singing greats and wondering how they would have done in today's context. Imagine a young Lata Mangeshkar, singing with her same celestial voice, but not getting SMS messages from the masses because she just stood there and didn't dance on the stage with a merry smile on her face. (Not to mention the fact that Maharashtrians wouldn't be bothered with sending SMS messages to get her selected, but let that pass.)
Manna De, of the golden, classically precise voice -- even if he had sung with his usual warm perfection, would he have gotten votes? Face it, while he sings fantastically, he never was known for his ability to dance on the stage.
Mohammed Rafi -- the smile would be just as gentle to match his peerless voice, but "Aapne aaj achha performance diya, lekin aapne stage ka upyog theek tarah se nahi kiya" would have been the only comment, chiding him on his inadequate use of the stage.
Same with Talat Mehmood -- great looks (after all he did come into films as an actor, and has actually acted in Sone ki Chidiya alongside Nutan), but would the audience be able to stomach his sensitive voice when they were looking for "masti bhare gaane"?
Perhaps the survivors from the old guard would have been Asha Bhosale and Kishore Kumar. Ashaji has an amazing stage presence, and has the gumption to pull off the requirements, whatever it took. Kishore Kumar always was an over-the-top performer, and could sing and dance with the best of them. And for good measure, he would also pull off wisecracks and jokes.
Runa Laila comes to mind as one who might have passed muster even in today's world. A crystal clear voice, a fantastic stage presence, the ability to "move" with her own music naturally, and a sultry sensuous look. (Remember we are talking about when they were YOUNG.)
Mukesh -- again great looks and a winning smile (I thought he looked better than Raj Kapoor in the song Chhotisi yeh zindagani re from the movie Aah which was picturised on him), but would he have made the cut with the SMS generation? Not sure.
All the new generation of superbly talented young people have to have that extra presentation ability, if they have any hopes of making it in this industry. And that means, by its very nature, that we must be missing some Latas, some Mohammed Rafis, some Talats and some Manna Des.
Well -- our loss. But life goes marching on. And what we don't know doesn't bother us. Who knows, there might have been someone (dare I suggest?) better than Lata and Mohammed Rafi, who we simply never heard, and hence we just didn't know any better.
I, for one, would have been the poorer had I gone through life without hearing a Rafi or Lata just because people who understand talent didn't watch that particular channel, or didn't have a cell phone handy, or were unable or unwilling to SMS their choices.
After a number of years of not having subscriptions any Hindi Channels, we very recently got our own "Zee TV" subscription. My lack of knowledge about all things "modern" in the film world must have been seen by a number of my observant readers -- and now you know how I zealously guarded my ignorance over all these years. While virtually all my friends had some or the other Hindi channel playing on their TVs when we would go visiting, I stayed away.
With this almost Rip-van-Winkle-esque backdrop, picture me sitting comfortably in front of my TV, and switching channels to my newly acquired Z TV. As luck would have it, there was "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Ek Main aur Ek Tu" playing. Aha! A chance to watch young talented men and women sing. I perked up in my seat. Suffering through numerous C grade ads touting Ajmeri baba, I sat through the entire program. Well, imagine my total surprise when I heard of the stupendous amounts of prize money and contracts that awaited the winner of the contest! 50 Lakhs! Boy, had things changed! And somewhere through that program, I found my thoughts drifting, even as I was listening to these very talented young people do their stuff. Replace this with any other talent shows such as Indian Idol, and my point would still stand.
This was no longer the old "Sa Re Ga Ma" I remember seeing before I left the shores of India. Then, it was all about the singing, the quality of the voice, the training. Now, it is all that AND the ability to present, to sing AND dance, to be an "entertainer" not just a singer. Perhaps the bar has been raised in some ways, but perhaps it has been lowered in certain others. Then, of course, there is this ludicrous and ubiquitous SMS messaging which determines the winner, and not the panel of judges, who, at least supposedly, are there because of their knowledge and experience. Supposedly democracy at work, where masses-with-cellphones-who-vote decide whether a singer (umm.. performer) makes the cut or not.
I was thinking about the old brigade of our singing greats and wondering how they would have done in today's context. Imagine a young Lata Mangeshkar, singing with her same celestial voice, but not getting SMS messages from the masses because she just stood there and didn't dance on the stage with a merry smile on her face. (Not to mention the fact that Maharashtrians wouldn't be bothered with sending SMS messages to get her selected, but let that pass.)
Manna De, of the golden, classically precise voice -- even if he had sung with his usual warm perfection, would he have gotten votes? Face it, while he sings fantastically, he never was known for his ability to dance on the stage.
Mohammed Rafi -- the smile would be just as gentle to match his peerless voice, but "Aapne aaj achha performance diya, lekin aapne stage ka upyog theek tarah se nahi kiya" would have been the only comment, chiding him on his inadequate use of the stage.
Same with Talat Mehmood -- great looks (after all he did come into films as an actor, and has actually acted in Sone ki Chidiya alongside Nutan), but would the audience be able to stomach his sensitive voice when they were looking for "masti bhare gaane"?
Perhaps the survivors from the old guard would have been Asha Bhosale and Kishore Kumar. Ashaji has an amazing stage presence, and has the gumption to pull off the requirements, whatever it took. Kishore Kumar always was an over-the-top performer, and could sing and dance with the best of them. And for good measure, he would also pull off wisecracks and jokes.
Runa Laila comes to mind as one who might have passed muster even in today's world. A crystal clear voice, a fantastic stage presence, the ability to "move" with her own music naturally, and a sultry sensuous look. (Remember we are talking about when they were YOUNG.)
Mukesh -- again great looks and a winning smile (I thought he looked better than Raj Kapoor in the song Chhotisi yeh zindagani re from the movie Aah which was picturised on him), but would he have made the cut with the SMS generation? Not sure.
All the new generation of superbly talented young people have to have that extra presentation ability, if they have any hopes of making it in this industry. And that means, by its very nature, that we must be missing some Latas, some Mohammed Rafis, some Talats and some Manna Des.
Well -- our loss. But life goes marching on. And what we don't know doesn't bother us. Who knows, there might have been someone (dare I suggest?) better than Lata and Mohammed Rafi, who we simply never heard, and hence we just didn't know any better.
I, for one, would have been the poorer had I gone through life without hearing a Rafi or Lata just because people who understand talent didn't watch that particular channel, or didn't have a cell phone handy, or were unable or unwilling to SMS their choices.
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