| Music talent hunts are a farce: Vinay By IANS Aug 03, 2007, 02:05 |
| ***image:1:left*** New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS) Bollywood music director Vinay Tiwari has come down heavily on TV music talent hunts, saying the judges on these shows are just puppets and more often than not the winners can't sing. "Now the personality of the singer has also become a criterion for selection. But these winners are not the kind of singers that music directors want. They cannot sing in the studio for even five minutes," Vinay told us. "I am sad that in this circus all the emphasis is on looks and the essence of hunting for talent is totally lost," he added. "The judges are just puppets. Does anyone have decision-making power? The jury members are there because they are heavily paid to appear on the show. The final decision entirely depends on audience votes." Along with music partner Nikhil, he composed for Anubhav Sinha's "Tum Bin". His solo work in "Stranger" starring Jimmy Shergil, Kay Kay, Sonali Kulkarni and Nandana Sen earned rave reviews at the just concluded 9th Osian's film fest here. The director had once been on the "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" reality show as a celebrity judge. But he feels that music talent hunts have now turned into marketing tools for TV channels and telecom service providers to squeeze money out of the public. "Through text messages, they earn heavy revenue. For instance, for a small question or vote they receive at least 7 to 8 million messages and each SMS costs Rs.10. So you can imagine the kind of money they make through audience votes." Vinay believes that to boost TRP ratings channels bank on public emotions and fabricate controversies. "To increase TRPs, these shows are made unnecessarily melodramatic with parents and competitors shown crying on screen. "It is unfortunate to see that many big music directors are part of this farce. They are shown fighting. A music director must be known for his creativity not for how much he can abuse on stage," he said. "In this fanfare the main aim of the shows - to unearth latent talent - gets lost somewhere," added Vinay. Vinay, who has now split with Nikhil, is currently working on films like "Thodi Life Thoda Magic" and "Tulsi". Putting an end to speculation about the split, he said: "Yes! After working together for 18 years, Nikhil thought that he could work independently as he wanted to find his own identity. But we are still friends. "I feel free now because when you are composing with a partner, sometimes you cannot use a particular instrument or technique as the other one doesn't like it. Then you feel helpless." |
| Copyright 2007 by MusicIndiaOnLine.com |
Arjun
