True to his God-fearing image, Suresh Wadkar was busy with the Ganesh Puja celebrations at his music academy when CS met him.
True to his God-fearing image, Suresh Wadkar was busy with the Ganesh Puja celebrations at his music academy when CS met him. "Ganesh Chaturthi is one of my favourite festivals. I love singing for Bappa," he says.
The music guru who has rendered evergreen melodious hits like Tum Se Mil Ke (Parinda), Chappa Chappa (Maachis) and the more recent Raat Ke Dhai Baje (Kaminey), chatted with us at length about Ganpati Bappa and music: 
WHO: Suresh Wadkar
WHAT: Talking about music
WHERE: At his music academy in Santacruz (W)
Record time
Almost every year, I release an album on Ganpati. While I like soft classical based devotional songs, I am also fond of numbers that devotees can sing and sway to. The latest album, Ganadhish is classical based with bhajans, shlokas and recitations.
u00a0
The other project I am busy with is Vishal Bharadwaj's upcoming album Barse Barse, which is high on melody. The songs are quite romantic with pop and folk elements in them. I have been singing for all of Vishal's films, right from his Maachis days.
u00a0
He always experiments with good results. It's great fun to work with him.u00a0
Facing the music
The music in Bollywood films has undergone a sea change in the past decade or so. While we were always strong in melody, there has been an increased emphasis on sound and orchestration in recent times.
u00a0
One can't blame the composers as they are catering to the audience's changing tastes. Today, people want to dance to every number.
u00a0
But I love the current crop of singers like Sonu Nigam, Kailash Kher, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, KK, Shreya Ghosal and so on. They have strong basics and are wonderfully versatile.u00a0
Sing along
I have always tried to maintain the originality of my voice. Melody is my forte. When I was learning singing, my guru always said that a singer's voice should be as fragrant as a flower.
u00a0
We have had such luminous examples like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsale, Manna Dey, Mohammad Rafi and Kishoreda to learn from. If you view reality shows, you will notice that most participants sing old songs to impress the judges.
u00a0
I would say that a strong classical base is a must to survive in this industry. While reality shows are giving us some good singers, I feel that the eliminated contestants should be given scholarships to learn music from reputed teachers.
Normally, most of them vanish into oblivion. But we must take care to nurture such talent.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
