Bollywood runs on nepotism, says musician Ranjit Barot

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Stressing that the Hindi film industry is an institution that does not put talent and virtuosity at the top of the list and operates on nepotism, India’s best known drummer and musical director, Ranjit Barot, whom guitar legend John McLaughli describes as “one of the pioneers of drums”, adds: “He seems to cultivate a servile attitude among the people who serve this industry. Therefore, that does not suit me No. However, if the good and brief director comes my way, I would be happy to collaborate. ”

Ranjit, who has won several awards – Zee Cine Award for Best Background Score (Shaitan, 2012), Filmfare Award for Best Background Score (Shaitan and Aks, 2012, 2002), GIMA Award for Best Fusion Album (“ Bada Boom ” , 2011) and Screen Award for best background music (Shaitan, 2012); and has been part of more than 50 films as music director, lyricist, music composer, sound designer and singer and has also collaborated with great international artists including John McLaughlin, Jonas Helborg, Ayden Esen and Tim Garland. He has also been the musical director of all AR Rehman live shows for several years now.

For someone who started playing at the age of 12, encouraged by his mother, the legendary dancer Sitara Devi, and who has been in the industry since the age of 17, starting with Kalyanji Anandji until At AR Rahman, the musician has now started a unique collaboration with Mumbai-based True School of Music. Thanks to my master class called “ The Boiler Room ”, I will be able to share some deep ideas that I have accumulated over the years. It is a course based on a “ non-curriculum ” and which consists of offering individual sessions that address an aspect of the unity that exists between rhythm and melody. By exposing the rhythm as the unrecognized song and the ability of the melody to lead a piece of music, I intend to instruct the students to look beyond the obvious and dig deep into themselves and in musical cultures around the world. ”

While the lockdown has spelled fate for performing artists, Ranjit has managed to record a new song and video with John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension. “I wrote a bunch of new music that will be released soon by Abstractlogix, the same record company that released my world jazz-fusion album” Bada Boom “in 2010. It features musicians from India, the UK United, from France and the United States. This is also a vocal project carried by my alter ego “Musafir”, starring some of the best singers in India: So, overall, creatively , it was a big tick! “

Ask him if he can be considered a “ self-taught musician, ” and Ranjit laughs that the term is somehow inappropriate, given that he has been exposed to music all his life through associations that his mother Sitara Devi had with classical musicians. “I was born in the UK, so I was exposed to rock and roll very early. What I mean is that the” student “in you has to be alert and alert for the process to “Learning is an everyday activity, without class schedules and the availability of the teacher. We have a saying, the guru is a flowing river. You have to decide how much you can get from this river.”

The musician, who also has a group — “ Superhonic ” in which he collaborates with his daughter Mallika, who has a particular vision of modern music, smiles when asked if it is easy to work with his child. “Frankly, it’s quite easy to work with her, given that she has high standards. It’s interesting for me to write for her and have her as a muse too. She became a beautiful musician. AR Rahman was so impressed with her singing that he presented her as a soloist in two concerts. “

But given the state of the independent bands in the country, still crushed by the pandemic, one wonders how they can now reappear and be maintained. “Well, another reason I started” Superhonic “was to have access to the independent music scene, which is growing but not yet” there. “Promoters should stop treating the independent music scene as the “poor stepson” of the film industry. Money must find its way to musicians so that they can support and develop their craft. And yes, musicians and artists must also improve their acting. If they want to show respect and money, they have to match what’s going on in the rest of the world. Your benchmark has to be global when it comes to production values ​​and songwriting skills , while keeping the pulse of what is happening musically locally. Yes, this is an interesting and stimulating period, which I am ready to embrace wholeheartedly.

Believing that music is an expression that belongs to everyone who considers it a way of life, Ranjit believes that the only thing that can give everyone a unique identity is their life story. “It’s important to have a point of view and not just to regurgitate music that was made before or that is made to death, as we hear so often in the pop scene. There is so much music that has been made to date, in all genres. The only way to stand out is to be you. “

–IANS

sukant / pgh

Warning :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is automatically generated from news agency feeds. Source: IANS