Shreya Ghoshal wonders why there are so few Indian female singers even in top 50: ‘India thoda sa patriarchal hain’

Shreya Ghoshal shared her take on the issue of gender parity in India's music industry. The singer shared that this was not the case even a few decades ago.

Shreya Ghoshal is one of the most prolific and well-regarded singers in the country, having won multiple awards and dominated charts for years. The singer was in conversation with Raj Shamani on his podcast recently, where she was asked why there is such a difference in India when compared to the West or in other countries where the top singers are female, be it Taylor Swift or Rihanna. (Also read: Shreya Ghoshal not embarrassed by Chikni Chameli but 'won't record songs like that' now: 'Always have to live with it')

Shreya Ghoshal shared her perspective on the lack of Indian female singers in top lists in music rankings.

What Shreya said

Shreya responded that a successful singer like Taylor Swift has mastered the craft and worked tirelessly on it for years. The singer then detailed that the scenario is different in India, and said, “Fact is India thoda sa patriarchal hai saj bhi (India is a little patriarchal, even today). Leave concerts, see number of songs on charts. Tell me how many songs are there which are sung by females! I don't find. Top 50 mein bhi jao, top 10 ki baat hi nahi kar rahi main, top 50 mein 6-7 honge. It is that lopsided. This was not how it was in our country. It is very ‘now’. This lopsidedness has come now.”

She went on to add, “Jo jamana tha Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, jis tarah se unhone command kiya hain (Look at the generation of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and how they commanded that era)… they were bigger than all the other male singers. The number of songs that they had, per year. That has changed, there is a lot of dilution and I feel we are going through something. Ye last 10 saal ye time chal raha hein ki hum confusion me hain. Wo confusion, fusion karte karte clarity pe aayega. (I think for the last 10 years there has been a lot of confusion and we are moving towards clarity).”

About Shreya's career

Shreya began her playback singing career with Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She won her first National Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Bairi Piya. Since then, she has sung in multiple languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

Shreya Ghoshal recently lent her voice to Yahin Guzaar Doon, alongside Amaal Mallik, featuring Farrhana Bhatt in the video. The singer has also announced her The Unstoppable World Tour, with planned performances in the UK, USA, India and Abu Dhabi.