'Original music will always have a market'

Award-winning singer Rekha Bhardwaj performs in the city on Saturday

Prolific singer and live performer Rekha Bhardwaj moves between genres and languages with ease. The voice behind hits such as ‘Judaai’ (Badlapur), ‘Ghagra’ (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) and ‘Sasural Genda Phool’ (Delhi-6), her heart and roots lie in Hindustani classical music and ghazals. Bhardwaj won the National Award in 2011 for the song ‘Badi Dheere Jali’ from the movie ‘Ishqiya’.

As she gears up to enthrall Bengaluru with her melodious voice on the weekend, Metrolife caught up with her for a quick chat about all things musical.

The songs you have sung in movies are not the usual fare...

By the time my songs started getting popular, my image as someone with her roots in classical music was firmly established. The songs I have sung were composed specially for me and represent me as an artiste.

My entry into the industry also coincided with the time when composers and music directors started using low pitch female voices in songs. Breaking the mould of only having high sweet voices in playback, females started singing on a lower octave and men on a higher one.

There is this perception that songs in movies are easy...

No, they are not. In films, you are singing for a particular situation and you have to emote accordingly. When the songs are lip-synced, it’s all the more difficult because it’s going to be picturised on somebody.

Whether it is a film song, a ghazal or a folk song- when you want to do it sincerely, you have to put in a lot of hard work.

What is your opinion about the trend of remakes?

I don’t identify with them. It feels like the melody is killed by forcefully adding Western nuances into a song which was composed with a completely different kind of music in mind.

These days, we are not thinking in terms of creativity; we are thinking along the lines of likes and shares and views. There is ample talent in the industry but since remixes seem to work with the audience, original music is being sidelined. I feel that if a film has a remake and an original song, both should be promoted equally.

Any young artistes whose work you really like?

I really like artistes who do original work. Arijit Singh, Armaan Malik and Jonita Gandhi are some names I follow. The last movie album I enjoyed in its entirety was ‘Dev D’.

Do you feel the market for classical music is diminishing?

I don’t think so. We have billions of people so musical tastes will vary. But I meet many youngsters who are singing or working with ghazals, western classical and Indian classical music and they are all doing quite well. Apart from this, we have bands like Advaita and Kabir Cafe who are popular with youngsters.

All these point to the fact that youngsters do like such kind of music. I strongly believe that good music will always have listeners and a market.

What are your upcoming projects now?

I have worked with some young composers and am waiting for those songs to release. I am working on some albums plus am looking at recording and releasing some of my own compositions next year.

Show at Chowdiah Memorial

Rekha Bhardwaj will perform on December 7, 7.30 pm onwards at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. The programme titled ‘Kuchh ishq kiya, kuchh kaam kiya’ will be a celebration of love odes (ghazals) and Sufi poems of Amur Khusrau.

Bhardwaj will be singing some original ghazals composed and penned by husband Vishal Bhardwaj. She will also be singing ghazals of Farida Khanum, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s and her own popular ghazals from Bollywood films.