MUMBAI: According to Singer Shaan, the Indian music industry is evolving and artists are no longer dependent on movies to make a name for themselves. The singer had her breakthrough in the indie pop scene in the late 1990s with the albums ‘Love-ology’ and ‘Tanha Dil,’ claimed that rappers and musicians like Badshah, Neha Kakkar, and Guru Randhawa seem to be at their peak. He claimed Arjit Singh is the "last big exponent" to emerge from the film industry.
“All the big names today in music, they are either rappers or they have their own brand of music styles. Arijit Singh was probably the last big exponent who came in from film music.”
“But a lot of them first got popular doing their own non-film music, like Guru Randhawa, Honey Singh, Badshah, King. But today, film music is hardly giving you the big singing star,” Shaan said in his recent interview with the popular news portal.
The 51-year-old playback singer, known for film songs “Musu Musu Haasi Deu”, “Woh Ladki Hai Kahan”, “Chand Sifarish” and “Jab Se Tere Naina”, said it’s difficult to make fans listen to his non-film music.
“The only thing is that a singer like me, whose branding has become that of a Bollywood singer, it’s very difficult to get out of that and for people to start listening to my non-film songs. But for others like Neha Kakkar, who came in from social media and then started getting their film songs… Today, it’s (music scene) changing, a singer doesn’t have to really rely to become popular through film music,” he added. Shaan also said he feels “underutilised” in Bollywood.
“Sadly, in the last 10 to 15 years, (I’ve) been much underutilised and not been a part of those big Bollywood songs, like I used to be. But at the same time, this could be of help.”
“When you are constantly on a roll, there’s no time to introspect, no time to work on your skills. You tend to keep going with the flow. At some point, you realise you’re becoming mechanical, redundant. So, I take this break, this little getaway as a good thing, that I get to work on my skill sets.”
The musician related a recent incident in which the producers of Rajkumar Hirani's Dunki, starring Shah Rukh Khan, removed his song.
“I was thrilled that I got to sing a Shah Rukh Khan song, but for some reason it was replaced by another song. So, these things (happen). The song, ‘O Maahi’ got on to become the popular song of that soundtrack, which is where my song was supposed to be slotted in,” he said.
Rather, Shaan claimed that he had the chance to work with well-known percussionist Bickram Ghosh on his most recent song, "Tanhaiyyan."
“I sang this beautiful song with Bickram Ghosh da. The music carries on whether it’s a film or not, and every other day I’m recording a beautiful song.” “Tanhaiyyan”, featuring Shaan and Ghosh, is produced under the latter’s music label Eternal Sounds. The singer said his goal is to build a memorable discography.
“It’s a legacy that you leave behind, the idea is to keep making good music… that will hopefully transcend time. I’m glad we have Eternal Sounds, the name eternal itself says it all, it means we got to create something that is timeless and not something that people are listening to at clubs, or are dancing to at parties,” he added. Shaan is a wonderful singer who is in "tremendous" form, according to Ghosh.
“We keep talking and sometimes I vent with him, and a bit of that he does too about what we should do to justify music because music has been under the baton of films for too long. Music should have its own life, and that’s happening today with indie music,” he added. Shaan stated that singing makes him happy regardless of the platform.
“For a singer, the biggest thrill is when you are behind the mic creating music. Nothing excites me more than that. I’m getting opportunities to do that a dime a dozen. So, I’m happy about it. That childlike passion and excitement, that fire in the belly is now more than ever before.”
Also read: Shaan to host season 7 of popular show, 'Crazy for Kishore'
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Credit- The Indian Express
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