Hariharan composing for his first Hindi movie

Mumbai, May 11 (IANS) Multilingual singer-composer Hariharan, who feels that film music needs a makeover, is making music for his first Hindi film and says he's trying to do something different.

'I am doing music for a Hindi film. It's called 'Saada'. I am trying to give something new. I have done two Tamil films. Now for the first time I am doing a Hindi film,' Hariharan told IANS in an exclusive interview. He refused to give details about the film except the name.

'Film music is based on directors, producers and actors. So, everyone has to change and then allow the music to change. Film music is not an independent music so the whole genre has to change,' said Hariharan.

Hariharan also revealed that his band Colonial Cousins with composer-singer Leslie Lewis is coming up with their next independent album after 10 long years.

'We are going to take out our next album this year,' said Hariharan, who has sung Hindi songs like 'Roja janeman', 'Chanda re' and 'Tuhi re'.

Asked whether India has a market for independent music, he said: 'There is no market for independent music but people are trying to create it. It was there from 1996 to 2001. For those five years, there was a great market. It's not there now because there is no platform. Neither radio nor TV plays non-film music. Obviously, if you don't have a place to expose, how would you create the market?'

Hariharan, 55, was in Mumbai for a concert organised by Fever Entertainment and performed all his popular numbers without using any electronic instruments.

'It's an unplugged concert. Unplugged means there is no electronic music; all acoustic playing and most of the popular song that I am singing. There are lots of improvisation and jamming and there are lots of imaginative, which means they are not set. It's improvisation on the spot.'