Since the 2013 hit ballad Tum Hi Ho from Aashiqui 2 left everyone misty-eyed and catapulted him to superstardom, Arijit Singh’s voice has made us believe in love and broken our hearts many times over. Capturing the elation of chasing dreams in Illahi, the longing of separation in Agar Tum Saath Ho and leaving behind the bittersweetness of goodbyes with Channa Mereya – if there’s one voice that left its trace across the last decade’s Bollywood music, it’s Singh’s. So when he announced his retirement from playback singing last week, all hell broke loose, with rumours abounding and the who’s who of the film industry requesting that he reconsider or coming in support. The independent music scene, however, is greeting this move with optimism for what it means to have the playback singer venturing in their direction.
While quitting playback music when you’re the number one Indian artiste, may be unprecedented, Karthik Chennoji Rao, an independent musician and Kannada playback singer, notes that fatigue is not all that uncommon. “The industry is difficult to navigate and people get disillusioned. I know local artistes who have taken a step back from playback singing because it got too much. I see this as a logical step forward.”
At an industry level, some hope this brings more film music fans into indie music and much-needed investment, even as indie music has grown in popularity among young audiences and nurtured big acts like Hanumankind, Lifafa, Peter Cat Recording Co, in recent years. “Indie music has always overshadowed playback, being a niche within the industry. When big names come in, it could open up new avenues for big labels and anyone with the capital. This can boost the music economy where the financial burden [of making, producing, promoting music] still falls on the artiste,” says Joel Sakkari, aka, ‘Sakre’.
This moment feels like a reversal of the formula seen since the ’90s – indie musicians making it big and switching to playback, or keeping one foot in both worlds. Rao hopes this might be a sign of artistic renewal, as he says, “It feels cyclic because back in the day, Bollywood music sounded the same but there were breakout indie artistes – Shaan, Lucky Ali, Adnan Sami and Alisha Chinai– who were releasing popular albums. Bollywood then took them in, kicking off a new golden era. Something like that is happening now, where people are coming back to indie because Bollywood is getting stale. We’re all desperately trying to find new sounds and everybody wants to tap into the indie crowd energy with fans that come to shows, pay for tickets and feel an emotional connection with you.”
Others are more cautiously optimistic, noting that it all depends on the direction Singh takes – hoping for experimentation but wondering if he will continue making songs with mass appeal. “If he releases music independently, he could have ownership over his own performance,” says Vishruti Bindal. The co-founder of Linear Festivals, adds, “The nature of playback means that someone’s directing your performance, someone else is composing in collaboration, etc. In indie music, there’s freedom in the way music is performed, written, constructed and arranged. It would be exciting to see him explore genres beyond what he’s known for. But if the point of going independent is to still make the same music – I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
Bruce Lee Mani too, points to a potential downside. “If more people who already have massive success within the film industry decide to follow suit, where will there be space for indie musicians who have comparatively less success, now competing with superstars for the same pie?”