'My past is my future'

The melody king of the late nineties, Abhijeet, was full of praises for the City during his recent trip here. Everyone seemed to be welcoming the singer this time round in Bangalore and he was all set to mesmerise the people here with his magical voice.

In a candid conversation with Metrolife, he talked about music, the golden era of romance and his upcoming album. More than critical about the quality of music now, he says, “Today, music composers don’t make music which has a shelf life — they make music which will sell. I don’t blame them, they are not given the freedom to compose their own music; the producer almost dictates the terms and conditions to them and the outcome is cheap music, which vanishes in a span of a month. I don’t belong to that era and hence, you cannot see me lending my voice to any of the songs composed now. It is not just me — can you spot Shaan or Sonu Nigam singing?”

Talking about the current phase of item numbers making headlines in the music industry, he adds that the concept dates back to the seventies — when Helen and Bindu were roped in to add to the glamour of the film. “It has taken a different turn now. The heroines have decided to don a new avatar and can be seen doing item numbers.

However, now we can also spot the heroes doing these item numbers,” he says.
He also remarks that songs today are bereft of lyrics and melody. “Can you see any
music on the racks at the stores now? I belong to that genre of singers whose
albums and songs are evergreen,” he adds.

He candidly declares that he is super busy. “As the quality of music has deteriorated, the audience wants to listen to old classics and melodies. I travel to many cities and the response that I get is amazing. The songs made today are very disappointing, the singers are bad, the songs are bad and the lyrics are appalling. I can understand why the audience is going back to the old melodies. I consider myself extremely lucky as I don’t need a forthcoming. My past is my future,” he explains.

When asked about his future plans, he says he is busy with his concerts, which are equal to large-scale productions. “My concerts are as good as big productions. They are well-rehearsed, well-planned shows and I invest a lot of time in them. It is because of the concerts that I don’t get enough time to do my albums. Some singers make albums to be seen not heard. But my albums Tere Bina and Lamhe were big hits. They don’t need big stars — it is parallel to the songs of a big-budget Hindi movie,” says the singer.

Singers and music composers can often be seen judging music reality shows but Abhijeet has a different take on this. “They are hired to praise the contestants for the benefit of the channel. I have never seen any of them critiquing the contestants objectively. Some of the singers who come out of these reality shows are very talented, but they don’t last. I have been offered to be a part of the reality shows many times — but my conscience does not allow me to be a part of it.”