Singer laments Bhojpuri folk's fall from grace
Posted on Jan 17, 2006
Source: Hindustan Times
The traditions and culture of India face a threat with cassettes of lewd Bhojpuri songs flooding the market. It is a cause of concern in context of the new generation that tends to catch first the negative and vulgar connotation of these songs.
Talking to Hindustan Times, eminent Doordarshan and Akashwani artist-cum-singer of Varanasi Gharana, Shailesh Srivastava expressed concern over the decline of meaningful lyrics in folk songs.
Various music companies were vending cheap songs with double-meaning lyrics in the name of folk songs. The obscene tag that was once given to Punjabi songs by non-Punjabis has now passed on to Bhojpuri songs being heard in several north Indian states.
Shailesh added, cultural aspects of the Indian society must be safeguarded, especially in the era of commercialisation and globalisation.
The artiste, who toured 11 countries of the world including Trinidad as a 'cultural ambassador' of India last year under the exchange programme of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), said people of Indian origin living in foreign lands still loved Indian classical music and old songs.
She enthralled Indians and foreigners with a medley of Kajri, Dadra and Asha Bhosle's hit songs.
Shailesh has released two albums titled 'Folk Fusion' while her third album is under production. She has performed as playback singer in a yet to be released Hindi movie, '1918 - A Love Story of Benaras' for Himesh Reshammiya has composed the musical score.
The folk singer said Indian classical music was limited to a certain class of people and a lot of talented newcomers in this sphere were not getting the right platform to perform for the masses. Efforts should be made to promote the budding classical performing artistes, she suggested.
"I delivered lecture demonstrations on Indian arts and culture to thousands of participants of Kendriya Vidyalaya who h ad assembled at a college from across the country last month in Mumbai," she said.
