Shankar Mahadevan says Music Composers today have no Say

India’s finest music composer, Shankar Mahadevan, discusses the decline of original music in the Indian film industry.

Shankar Mahadevan says Music Composers today have no Say f

"Music is created by someone who understands it."

Shankar Mahadevan has spoken out about the decline of original music in Bollywood, stating that music composers today do not have a say.

On his 54th birthday, Shankar gave his perspective on the matter.

He told Indian Express:

“I am nobody to comment on why it is not happening today.

“It is everybody’s personal choice and everybody has a different way of composing.

“However, I think the primary reason might be that the person who makes the music is different from the person taking the decision to put out the music.

“The power of the person who decides which music will come out — is a non-music person.

“Music is created by someone who understands it.”

Shankar Mahadevan genuinely emphasised with those struggling to make original music. He went on to say:

“We should not blame music composers. It is the decision-makers.

“I don’t think the music composers have a say today, the producers and music labels believe that by remixing an old song or adding some rap and beats to an old song will make it successful.

“I don’t think they are thinking about musicality, or sustainability, or giving out a new melody.

“It is not about creating anymore.

“It is about business; it is about Friday-Saturday-Sunday crowd-pulling.

“They don’t care if music works or doesn’t. They are not worried about who is singing or how it is being received.”

Shankar Mahadevan is one of the finest music composers India has today. His compositions are high on the melody with a touch of Hindustani classical.

Over the years, Shankar has successfully won multiple awards.

When asked whether he has cut down on composing Hindi film music due to the kind of music preferred these days, he stated:

“We are very much still composing music for Hindi films, not as much as we used to but last year we did Bandish Bandits.

“Now we are very selective about our work.

“Anything we do, we add bits of classical music because those are the roots of our culture.”

Shankar Mahadevan had his first breakthrough album, Breathless, with Javed Akhtar.

Breathless was an Indi-pop album released in 1998. It was the album that brought Shankar fame.

There was absolutely no looking back after Shankar Mahadevan entered the Indian music industry.

He collaborated with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa and created some of the most popular Bollywood tracks during the 2000s.

Nadia is a Mass Communication graduate. She loves reading and lives by the motto: "No expectations, no disappointments."




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