With a number of Bollywood stars taking to singing, BT tunes in to find out more

Abhimanyu Mishra (BOMBAY TIMES; August 1, 2012)

 

What’s common among Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Piyush Mishra, Raghuveer Yadav, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Riteish Deshmukh, Ali Zafar, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonal Chauhan and Priyanka Chopra? All of them act in films would be an easy guess, but they have also crooned for their own on-screen avatars with Piggy Chops being an exception. The list of actors singing in films is getting bigger with every passing day.

Chitrangda Singh and Ranbir Kapoor are the latest entrants as she sung her item number in Joker, and he’s crooning a number in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

The recent times have seen many stars turning singers in the recording studios. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara had the entire ensemble of lead actors crooning the Senorita song. South sensation Dhanush achieved cult status when his Kolaveri Di went viral on the internet. And Priyanka Chopra’s efforts for an international album are now consuming a lot of newsprint.

“It’s an enthralling experience to record a song,” says Aditi Rao Hydari, who sang in her film London Paris New York, adding, “I’m not a trained singer but when I was offered to sing for LPNY, I took it up as a new challenge.” Aditi has also recorded the Hindi version of the theme song for Ice Age 4 — Continental Drift, and the original version has been sung by Jennifer Lopez.

Composer Ehsaan Noorani feels the trend of actors singing should be encouraged. “The Hollywood tradition and the tradition in the British film industry is for actors to sing and not to have playback singers dub for them. Most actors abroad go to drama schools where singing is compulsory as per the theatre tradition. It would be nice to see more actors do that here as well,” he says.

However, some industry veterans feel this trend has been there forever. As actor, singer and composer Piyush Mishra asserts, “I have been singing and composing since my theatre days. You can’t call it a new trend.”Asked if the increasing number of actor-singers are a threat for the playback singers, Mishra dismisses the notion saying, “Everyone gets what they deserve. Those who are exceptionally good, get rewarded accordingly.”

Sharing a similar opinion, Aditi says, “We might be doing a good job, but we won’t be able to do justice to every song. So threatening the reign of playback singers is out of question. I sang because I got exciting offers, not to make a career in singing. I don’t have any future plans, unless I get another exciting offer again.”