Page 39 - Seniors Today Jan20 Issue
P. 39
Daler Mehndi Lucky Ali
Acts from Pakistan, like Junoon, Ali Haider talent hunt contest. The result was the much-
and Strings, attracted audiences in India with hyped group Viva, whose debut album lacked
their distinct blends. in terms of quality. Other manufactured groups
A major development took place when Colonial like A Band Of Boys, Aaria and Aasma came
Cousins did its MTV Unplugged album, the first in but never created the kind of impact one
Indian act to be part of the prestigious global expected.
series. For Indipop, everything was hunky-dory Thirdly, everybody was trying to stick to
till the end of 1998. previously-successful formulae. The result
was that most new albums were repetitive or
Going wrong gave listeners a heard-it-before feeling. The
But as they say, good phases might not last music channels started showing more of youth
forever. Overnight, things began to go wrong, lifestyle programming, reducing music content.
and by the time one realised that, the slide had After a three-year run, Channel V discontinued
begun. To begin with, anyone and everyone its awards ceremony. Finally, rather than
wanted to become an Indipop star. Even those creating original content, the industry’s focus
without any talent were promoted by labels, shifted towards remixing old Hindi film songs.
as long as they looked good and were video- Only a few acts succeeded in the early 20th
friendly. More emphasis was given only to century. These included Shaan’s Tanha Dil, the
creating a popular video, than on providing Bhosle-Adnan Sami album Kabhi Toh Nazar
eight good songs in an album. Milao and Kailash Kher’s Kailasa. Many pop
In a bid to discover talent, some experiments singers like Nigam, Shaan and KK moved into
were carried out. In 2002, Channel V and Times Bollywood territory. Hindi film music continued
Music decided to form a girl band through a to rule, with a set of new music directors lending
freshness. The Indipop dream was over.
Today, popular non-film music has returned
in a big way. The focus has shifted from albums
to singles, launched on YouTube and online
streaming platforms. Though some popular
acts have mushroomed, there are no stars in the
league of Chinai, Mehndi, Colonial Cousins or
Lucky Ali. Hopefully, the industry will learn
from past mistakes. The only thing in favour of
this genre is that Hindi film music is in a dismal
state today. The future of both film and non-film
Indian Ocean music will be decided this year.
39 SENIORS TODAY | Issue #7 | January 15, 2020
