Bollywood not benchmark for Indian music: National award winner Iman Chakraborty
She added that‘Naatu Naatu’s Oscars victory is testament to the fact and there is nothing called regional and national anymore
Kolkata-based singer Iman Chakraborty and national award winner Iman Chakraborty feels Bollywood is no longer a benchmark of success for Indian music anymore adding that ‘Naatu Naatu’s Oscars victory has proven the same.
Speaking to HT on the sidelines of an event at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar in Assam, she said there is nothing called regional and national anymore.
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“Today, we have a global audience and if the content has the power to impress, you are accepted. There were times when Bollywood used to be a benchmark, but things have changed. Today, a song from south India is winning hearts of global audience and bringing Oscar for India. The whole country is celebrating it, that shows that Bollywood is not the last place to go for Indian music artists,” she said.
She also shed light on how she handles social media trolls.
“We cannot keep complaining about trolls, though I pity them, I don’t hate social media. It gave me my first song, for which I got my first national award”, she said.
She revealed that she started a YouTube channel in 2011 and uploaded a few of her songs. Anupam Roy, the music composer of Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, called her and asked if she wanted to sing for him.
Her rendition “Tumi Jake Bhalobasho” for 2016 film Praktan won a national award for both Roy and herself.
Iman also stressed on the fact singers in India are not limited to playbacks anymore.
“One cannot only listen to the songs of Michael Jackson or Lady Gaga, you have to watch them, that’s how they presented themselves. But when we talk about singers like Srikanta Acharya, we expect him to sing with harmonium on the stage, this has to change,” Iman opined.
Apart from winning the national award, she won multiple Filmfare and other awards for her songs in Bengali movies.
She recently recorded her version of AR Rahman’s “Nahi Samne” and uploaded it on her YouTube channel drawing praise from the music maestro who used her part of the song in his own documentary.
Iman continues to work hard and wants to win another national award someday.
