B'wood singers or olo artistes?

When it comes to playback, Kolkata still misses a beat at the mention of singers from Bollywood.
And considering that the Bengali rock band movement is nothing short of a phenomenon, the singers are the current toast of the town when it comes to exercising vocal chords in films. With quality space being taken up, does that leave any room for our solo artistes to prove their mettle?
Allegations have time and again being levelled against Jeet Gannguli for roping in Bollywood singers to churn out hits.Tollywood’s reigning composer reasons, “I don’t think Oh My Love (Amanush) could have been sung by anyone else but Kunal Ganjawala. Having said that, I would also like to clarify that a song like Bhola jaye na (Jackpot) has been totally justified by Nachiketa’s voice. I’ve also worked with Raghab, Rupankar and Subhamita. They are all good singers. But then, every song has a character and there’s only one voice that can suit it.”
Jeet’s experimentation with new has not just made him look the Mumbai way, but has even made him rope in freshers and make actors sing, a trend that has caught on in Bollyville. “I made Dibyendu sing Prithibi onek boro (Love). June Banerjee that way too is my discovery, as I needed a fresh voice for Chirodini... Tumi Je Amar. Similarly, Kharajda has sung for animation film Lal Kaalo,” he explains, adding that the song is the ultimate decision maker.
Another development that’s slowly but steadily happening in Tollywood is the influx of band members as music composers. Does that put rock bands before solo artistes? Som Dasgupta, who has a couple of films to his credit, makes his preference known. “Coming from a band set-up, all my compositions are, by default, very high-pitch. That’s where roping in other band members becomes essential. After all, one can’t compromise on the scale. I have worked with Rupankar and Srikanto Acharya — they are great singers. But who will sing the song, is
something that’s totally dependant on the character of the song and if I make more singers from the band circuit lend their voices, it’s solely for the sake of composition,” he justifies.
Raghab, who is in the industry for many years now and has made his presence felt in the playback scenario, says little room is left for solo artistes after Bollywood singers of the likes of Shaan and Sonu Niggaam lend their voices and music directors sing their own tracks for the sake of innovation. “I have cut a niche for myself, but there are many other solo artistes who are overlooked,” he says. About members of Bangla bands turning into composers and making their preference known, the singer says, “They try to promote their own brand of music. For instance, Pritam, who made James sing in Life In A... Metro, could have easily made any of us sing the number. But he was then promoting Band Metro. Personally, I don’t think James is a great singer. Rupankar would have done a good job with the song.” He adds that there are still a number of composers who wouldn’t overlook talent. “I’ve worked with Jeet Gannguli, Rajesh Roy, Samidh-Rishi among others,” he says.
Singer Anasua is of the opinion that the industry’s mindset has got a lot to do with it. “Even singers are easily typecast, much like actors. Over years, people have come to compartmentalise singers as those good at basic albums and those good at playback,” she says, adding that contrary to the popular notion that composers were just composers and singers could only sing, things have taken a 360° turn.
About composers from Bangla bands making their preference known, she says that there’s some justification as their music is hatke. “It’s not that solo artistes are not getting into music composition. But what would be really good is if they start giving more hits,” she opines.
That would truly be some music to the ears.