'Woh khubsurati nahi rahi'

NIKITA DOVAL / TNN / Mar 17, 2006, 21:19 IST

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Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar are dismayed over the sad state of music in Bollywood.

Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar are dismayed over the sad state of music in Bollywood.
Asha Bhonsle's oomph and Lata Mangeshkar's mellifluous voice have reigned over the golden period of Indian cinema.
But now the ladies are angry and dismayed over the sad state of music in Bollywood. They share their thoughts...
On a rainy afternoon in the Capital, Asha Bhonsle hums a few bars to herself and sips from her eagerly awaited cup of tea before stating, "I believe that there are two things a person carries with him in his next life.

Shlokas that you chant and your awaaz. There are times when I listen to a small child singing and am left mesmerised by the depth and range of his voice. That's when I know yeh gaye zamaane ka bahut bada gayak raha hoga."
It, therefore, comes as no surprise when she reveals that an American medium had once told her the same thing. "But, what I really wanted to know was that how is it possible that five singers are born in the same home," she says referring to her siblings.

But the presence of talented singers notwithstanding, the music scene, especially in the film industry, she says, is not what it used to be. "Ab gaano ki umar nahi rahi," she rues.
"Earlier music directors had a very strong classical background and they would spend time weeks and months on every composition. And the lyricists were not just lyricists, they were poets," she says.
"Woh khubsurati nikal gayi hai ab...," she adds, her voice trailing off. "Did you know that Manna Dey assisted SD Burman because he wanted to learn more, even after establishing himself as a music director? There was this thirst to learn."
And she considers herself very fortunate that she got a chance to sing with stalwarts like Mohd Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. "One feels blessed that I have paired my vocals with a mountain and not a pebble."
These days, the singer says, she just looks at the lyrics and if the tune touches her, she sings. Of course, that was not the case when it came to her new music album about RD Burman, who, she states, "was ahead of his times."
Her latest music video features her in a glitzy set-up, draped in a red saree doing the Cha Cha, complete with foreign back-up dancers.
"I had learnt the waltz and the cha-cha way back in the '60s," she informs with a twinkle in her eyes before adding that she had all but refused to wear the red saree in the song. "I only wear white and gold but the producers insisted that I must wear that red saree.
So I then took the advice of everyone from my son to daughter-in-law to my granddaughter and they all assured me that the colour does not look bright at all. I was still reluctant but was bulldozed into wearing it," she smiles.
Up next is a whirlwind tour of different cities with the Kronos Quartet, something she is really looking forward to. "Every performance teaches you something new and working with new people is always interesting," she adds.

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