M-Town crooners

Multitasking seems to be the order of the day in M-Town. And while some actors in Bollywood have tried their hand at singing, our Marathi stars are definitely not far behind.
Amruta Patki���������s recent Marathi debut was a double whammy for her ��������� she was the protagonist and also sang the seductive track Madalasa Mi Tuzhi Menaka in the film.And Amruta certainly isn���������t the only one. Sometime back we heard actor Amruta Subhash���������s melodious voice in Nitin Chandrakant Desai���������s Ajintha and before that, actor Prasad Oak had given us a glimpse of his impressive vocal skills in the Rang Barse Marathi remix track from the movie Doghat Tisra Ata Sagla Visra and Arakshan from the movie Joshi Ki Kamble.
Amruta who enjoyed her first singing stint says: ���������Producer Shamal Parab heard an audio clip of my voice and decided that I should sing the flirtatious number. I liked the idea and immediately agreed. I must say it made me perform better while shooting the song as I knew the lyrics and could emote better. Though I have a classical base, I don���������t sing regularly and had to work on my voice. It was a great experience and I plan to continue with it.���������
Fans of Prasad Oak probably do not know that he was selected in a singing show on television much before he made a foray in M-Town. However, it is only now that Prasad has tried his hand at singing. ���������Avdhoot Gupte who was composing the songs for Doghat Tisra Ata Sagla Visra knew that I could sing because he was one of the judges for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. So he suggested my name to director Kanchan Adhikari. The song is peppy and required a hoarse voice and we had a lot of fun recording it,��������� reveals Prasad. However, the actor admits, ���������Acting is my profession now so whenever I sing professionally, I get tensed about being able to deliver what is expected of me.���������
Amruta Subhash���������s singing skills might have come to the fore after Vihir, but the actor has always been passionate about singing and had even released an album Jata Jata Pawasane earlier. So what prompts directors to rope in actors to sing? ���������Actors are artists and are multi-talented,��������� says director Nitin Chandrakant Desai. Director Sarvesh Parab adds, ���������Letting an actor sing his part gives the song an authentic feel.���������
But penning songs for actors may require some alterations, informs lyricist Guru Thakur. ���������While penning lyrics we are not aware of the singers as the directors or composers take the call later. So if an actor who is not a professional singer is required to sing, we use simple words and tunes to make things easier for them.���������
Desai adds that actors need to make sure that they do justice to their work if they decide to take up singing seriously. ���������The director should not be forced to make alterations in the compositions just because the song is sung by an actor. There are many actors who want to be singers but they need to work on their voice. Also it is difficult to predict if the songs sung by actors will work with the audience.���������