Click to play videoChennai: Crooning in their native tongue might come easy to singers Hariharan and Shankar Mahadevan, but their offers from the Tamil film industry are dwindling. And the reason is, believe it or not, the perfection of their singing.
“The Tamil industry wants innocence, a rawness to the singing because there are young new actors and they play normal people like you and I. So they're not looking for perfection in the singing,” says Hariharan.
Hariharan feels that in contrast to Bollywood, which is happy belting out Sufi numbers and mixing R&B with Bhangra, Tamil film music is yet to find its niche and is still experimenting.
“It used to be Dappankoothu a few years ago. Now it's Dappankoothu mixed with rock and some ballads. Tamil film music is still experimenting,” says Hariharan.
Shankar Mahadevan on the other hand is pessimistic about the state of music not only in Tamil film industry but across the country.
“There is a cloud of mediocrity in music now. It’s like a dead man dressed up in Dolce and Gabbana - he'll look pretty but he's still a dead man at the end of the day,” says Shankar Mahadevan.
Tamil music is experimenting and getting back to brass tacks. Whether it's earthy tunes, easy lyrics or basic beats, it's all about being in touch with the masses. And while the stalwarts may go in quest of melody, the average Chennaiite continues to groove to these new experimental beats.
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