Music World

The Indipop stars of yesteryear are having to compete in an increasingly filmi music video market

The 90s is remembered for many things - economic reform, foreign investment and liberalisation — but what most TV junkies recollect are Alisha Chinai and her “cute blunt cut” in Baby Doll; Baba Sehgal wooing Pooja Bedi in a garage in Dil Dhadke; Lucky Ali’s O Sanam and Anupama Verma’s pout in Biddu’s Boom Boom. It was the era of liberalisation and music, too was removed from Bollywood films and placed on the idiot box.

With VHS-quality music videos and funky artists, Indipop came of age. But today, a decade later, the music video genre has come full circle. From funky Indipop videos and sleazy remixes, to Bollywood videos, the genre is a muddled lot.

“From the time the first Indipop video was played on Channel V — 13 years ago — to date, has been quite a journey. Bollywood today is releasing its music in the video format, and when a multi-crore worthy heartthrob lipsyncs even a mediocre Bollywood tune, CDs sell much more than for the hardest promoted pop artist. The end result is both music and the video quality have suffered from a Vitamin M deficiency - M as in money, not music,” says Saurabh Kanwar, marketing head Channel V.

A fact hard to miss if you see the slew of Bollywood music videos on the tube — Mauja Mauja from Jab We Met; Hare Ram Hare Krishna from Bhul Bhoolaiyan; Singh is Kingg from Singh is Kingg — are all videos used to publicise the films.

“Both Bollywood and Indipop are vying for extra airtime,” says Harry Anand, music director of the controversial Chadti Jawani and Kanta Laga remixes, “The audience too has changed. While earlier most music videos would be sleazy, today, the audience wants a classy, well-made video, as we are constantly compared to film songs. The fact that films, too, release music albums has made the Indipop genre difficult to compete in.”

Produced like home videos with the artist mouthing the lines — the Indipop videos of yesteryear, many say, were plain bad, or simply novel. “Back then music channels were new, and so was the idea of music outside of films. That is why music videos stood out and became such a rage. But with the technology, everyone stepped up their quality, so today everything looks the same. Bollywood songs try to mimic the video format and music videos artists shoot their songs like film music,” says Luke Kenny.

That’s not to say that the Indian music industry hasn’t produced any memorable ones.
Lucky Ali’s O Sanam was a great song with a soulful singer, uniquely shot with
Pyramids in the background; Dooba Dooba by Silk Route was shot underwater; Sayonee by Pakistan band Junoon was shot in Sufi style; Bula ki jana by Rabbi with its juxtaposition of artist and content — have all stayed in our memory. Channels, too, still have them on their play list.

“Only those videos with a good song, great visual content and a charismatic artist have stood the test of time,” says Luke.

Yet the struggle to keep the Indipop video format going is on — only this time artists are armed with better technology and a new vision.

“In the milieu of music videos and other formats only the best can survive,” says Anand,
“no longer can you depend on the ‘item girl’ tag alone to sell your music. Today, you easily need a Rs15-16 lakh budget with great locales and a novel idea to get noticed.”

India’s original rap star Baba Sehgal, agrees: “A good music video with good music, content and artist’s personality will definitely get noticed. But it is sad that these days most music companies aren’t interested in grooming an artist. It requires a lot of patience, understanding and belief to do so. People want quick results and the remix-item girl genre is easy both in terms of time and finance,” says Baba, who is launching his new album Life ki gaadi ko dhaka mar, in October this year.

Music channels, however, feel that there is now a resurgence of talent and greater interest in music than ever from consumers. “Fortunately, with technology and time, costs have come down. There is more attention to image and style and packaging of a singer. The video, too, is now more important than ever as the key means to promote and sell an artist,” adds Kanwar.

Like Baby Doll, Dil Dhadke, O Sanam and Boom Boom, today’s Indipop artists, too, have to get the formula right, especially since the novelty has worn off. But warns Kanwar, “Only a winning song makes for a winning video, much like Rock On’s Pichle saat dino mein video — that’s a sure-shot winner.”

Courtesy: http://www.dnaindia.com