Bollywood biggies hit the right notes

Bollywood biggies hit the right notes

With actors courting the mike to turn complete entertainers, the cash registers are ringing and it's definitely music to the ears

Wooing women isn't pass, but courting the mike is definitely in. What with Bollywood biggies queuing up at the recording studio to pitch in with their vocals, the result has been no less magical. It's the Al Jolson-ian era revisited, when actors would not only emote, but also sing in order to be a complete entertainer.
Seems like, it's in search of this elusive tag, that more and more actors are joining the musical bandwagon. And when their heroes are strumming a new note, the audience is bound to lap it all up. No wonder then that when Aamir Khan invited Rani Mukerji to Khandala, SRK showed some josh with Apun bola, Sanjay Dutt went O Shivani and Big B sang Chali chali to ladylove Hema Malini, there was mass euphoria. Following AB Senior's footsteps was Junior B. Right here right now did the trick for the actor. And there's no stopping Akshay Kumar, who has hit it off with Snoop Dogg. Hrithik Roshan too is all set to taste success in music with Kites, while Farhan-Prachi cast their 'magik'al spell at the BO. Arjun Rampal too has expressed the desire to record a song in the future, which he explains, would be "after proper training."
Though none of the songs sung by our actors have gone unnoticed, most admit to getting goosebumps before hitting the studio. , who was not informed beforehand about singing, says she did fine in two takes. Ask her to rate herself as a singer and the actor says, "Terrible! I don't even fall in that category." , however, explains that actors breaking away from their 'I only want to act' image is a good thing for Bollywood, "Earlier, when talkies came into the picture, we didn't have good sound equipment. But now see how well our actors are doing for themselves." Little wonder then that the Rock On!! album is now 13 on the iTunes download list the world over.
So, aren't untrained voices a problem for music directors? "In today's time it's not a problem. But of course, one needs to sing it well," says Pritam, who's fond of Abhishek Bachchan's voice. Shankar Mahadevan's job however, was a little easier, since "Farhan was already into singing." "What was needed was a little voice training. What one needs is good expertise in the studio to get into the psychological head space of the actors and make them feel that it's not a big deal," Shankar opines. But leaving aside the experimentations, it's also the saleability factor that comes into the picture, when actors are made to sing. "They do generate a lot of curiosity, so much so that the song becomes the USP of the film," the composer explains. Here, Shankar Mahadevan begs to differ, "There's another side to the story — a fraction of the audience is there to beat the actors down even before they listen to the numbers. The general reaction is 'arre woh kya gayega?' It's a greater challenge."
But with cash registers ringing, it's definitely music to the ears.


Arjun Rampal