Alka Yagnik

A popularly acclaimed Indian singer Alka Yagnik tells her opinion about the new singing talent and the reality shows.

She started her journey when melody was the key ingredient of the music. Alkaji dominated the playback singing in late 80s and 90s and even today her sweet voice stands out among the crowd of singers. But now, we have to wait to hear her before she agrees to sing. She thinks that today’s music is not of her kind and so not recording for many movies.

“It’s a deliberate decision because the songs these days are not my cup of tea. After having sung a variety, I do not find anything that excites me. Most of the songs are very noisy or have a Sufi touch,” she explains.

But if the songs meet her criteria, she is always ready to sing it. When asked her, what she like about the recent Subhash Ghai’s film, she explains, “A R Rahman’s music and Subhash Ghai’s direction - need anything more be said?”

While talking about today’s talent, she adds, “Talent doesn’t matter much these days. The advanced recording techniques can make an out-of-tune singer sound sonorous. You don’t need to be a refined singer to foray into playback singing.”

Alka has also judged reality shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa challenge and Voice Of India. She enjoyed judging the new talent and her take on reality shows is, “Many talented singers are spotted in these shows, they receive initial boost, but they get lost in the crowd as every show brings in fresh talent and more winners.”

Now a day, as she is not recording many songs for films, she is busy grooming new talent through reality shows and also with her concerts. She is also working on a fusion album of semi-classical melodies with Western classical music. She believes in quality music rather than quantity, as she says, “I want to do something new. I do not want to add quantity, all that matters to me now is quality.”