India has gone from being a land that once produced some of the best independent musicians to become a nation today in which independent music is almost non-existent. But there is still hope…
Abhishek EAA country that boasts of an unparalleled history of rich, diverse and extensive indigenous forms of music can only talk of a present that is defamed by the lack of creative credibility and widespread plagiarism .
It is difficult to blame anyone, is it the makers fault that they are not producing good music or does the fault lie with the audience who are not demanding good music. Even in conflict both the maker and the genuine-listener have conveniently turned towards the west. One for the so called ‘inspiration’ and the other for musical solace as an alternative for the confused state of the Indian music scene. Aishwarya Sarda, a student has a similar opinion. “I genuinely prefer songs with deep meaning rather than just cheesy lyrics with copied western music. Today Indian music has lost its sheen in the name of pointless fusion. The simplicity seems to have faded away.”
In the midst of all this, there is always a ray of hope. It is sometimes called the new-wave or new-generation in Art and when it comes to the Indian music scene the flagbearers of this movement have been a few musicians such as Indian Ocean, Parikrama, Avial etc as bands and Amit Trivedi , Shantanu Moitra, Sneha Khanwalkar etc. as music composers for Bollywood .
In a country like India with distinctly diverse cultures, a particular genre or category of music cannot exclusively be associated with the whole of the nation. Hence, the only vague definition that could be given to its music is ‘fusion’ and in recent times the one artiste who has managed to take this genre to the next level in India is Sneha Khanwalkar .
She has shown her talent as a musician in a few of her film scores in which the music has always been in-sync with the narrative and also popular among the masses.“Her method of working is very unique and rather unheard of. To capture the essence and tone of a particular place she would actually pack her bags and venture into that region and get in contact with the local musicians of that region and work along with them and capture tones and mannerisms of their music,” says Ch. Ching Len Thoiba, a student and musician at SRM college, Chennai.
This is very evident in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye in which she gave a genuine Punjabi-folk feel to the music and in Gangs of Wasseypur she has come up with a brilliant fusion of the rustic Bihari tone and contemporary music . In a promotional interview for Gangs Of Wasseypur she said, “I had spent two years in the making of the soundtrack, the music is experimental so give it a patient ear”.
Her passion and effort on this album is now bearing fruits as most of the tracks are faring well with the audience. In 2012 Sneha extended the creative possibilities of this method and came up with the idea of a show with MTV India called Soundtrippin which became a huge hit, and struck a chord with the audience.The final product is just amazing, it reflects the very core identity and essence of that place with of course the ‘contemporary-fusion’ musical touch that is Sneha Khanwalkar’s trademark.
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