In her blog, the veteran singer disapproves of the trend of remixes, says has no problem if the originality of the song is retained and due credit is given to original artists.
New Delhi: Veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar has expressed her anguish over the culture of remixing songs, saying “totally remixing the song was absolutely wrong”. Mangeshkar wrote in a blog Friday that she was baffled that due credit wasn’t being given to the original artistes of the songs.
“Keeping the originality of the song and presenting it afresh is a good thing. As an artiste I also understand that there are songs whose music is so well composed that every singer wishes to sing them, this is natural, but totally remixing the song is absolutely wrong. And I have heard that these days the credit goes to the undeserving person instead of the original artist,” she wrote in the blog.
The singer said she had spoken to lyricist Javed Akhtar before penning her opinion in the blog.
नमस्कार .जावेद अख़्तर साहब से मेरी टेलिफ़ोन पे बात हुई उसके बाद मुझे महसूस हुआ कि मुझे उसपर कुछ लिखना (cont) https://t.co/XhzXrLhX8s
— Lata Mangeshkar (@mangeshkarlata) June 1, 2018
A spate of remixes
Remixing of older songs isn’t a new phenomenon in Bollywood.
Have a look at the title track of the movie Dum Maaro Dum for instance. The Pritam Chakraborty version of the song features Deepika Padukone and is filled with unsophisticated lyrics. The song uses the tune of the original song from Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) but sounds totally different from the original composition.
Khoya Khoya Chaand from Kala Bazaar (1960), which featured Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman, was also remade in 2012 for the movie Shaitan. There were two versions of this video — one extremely violent and the other highly sexualised.
Hawa Hawai featuring Sridevi in Mr India was also remixed for the movie Shaitan and this is popular among the youth.
Another instance of a music director not giving due credit is Pritam’s composition Aahun Aahun in the movie Love Aaj Kal. It is a remixed version of Shaukat Ali’s Kadi Te Has Bol Ve from Pakistan. Pritam has taken the tune, replaced the lyrics and redone the video.
Here is an instance of artistes acknowledging to original performers. Mohammed Rafi’s Sar Jo Tera Chakraaye was resung by Sylvia Gordon for Road Movie in 2009. Sony Music India did give due credit to the movie Pyasa, from where this song was taken.
Singer thanks her collaborators
In her post, Mangeshkar also pointed out that it was difficult in her time to record and produce a song because back then sophisticated technology wasn’t available. She also thanked various artistes whose efforts have contributed in the making of the golden era.
“There was a deficiency of facilities, but there was no dearth of talent. People worked hard, and were committed. Every song was refined and every day numerous rehearsals would take place. Everyone put efforts to make the song beautiful and meaningful. When I look back to those days, I feel like that those days were indeed magical,” she wrote.
At the end of her blog, she also requested the recording companies to adhere to their responsibilities and keep in mind the national heritage that will be reflected through the songs instead of keeping money on their minds.
The article was originally written in Hindi, you can read it here.