Years after becoming a familiar face on the first season of Indian Idol, singer Amit Sana has returned to television with the show’s new season, Legends Return. However, the journey back has been far from easy. “When I did my second album, I invested a lot of money into it and people loved it, but somehow, I made quite a loss monetarily,” Sana recalls. “You don’t get the kind of royalties you need in India. The publicity that was promised never really happened. As an artist, you get scared. How do you come out with another new song when you aren’t financially well off?”
Sana says he received little support from fellow artists during this difficult phase. “No one from the industry ever chose to help, no one reached out. The truth is, somewhere, we were all struggling. This is the bitter thing about reality shows. Offers don’t instantly start pouring in once you become a part of one or gain fame through it. There have been a lot of seasons of Indian Idol, but very few people have actually managed to make it big in the industry.”
Recalling his state of mind after the show, he says, “As soon as the season ended, I was very depressed because I didn’t know what I was going to do. Everyone else was very happy, thinking, ‘Wow, now we are going to do shows, we are going to make money.’ I remember thinking, what am I going to do? How will I sustain myself in this city?”
Looking at an industry increasingly shaped by younger artists and new technology, Sana believes there is still an audience for the music his generation represents. “People are not very happy with the kind of music that is being created these days. It is too daring; it overpowers your senses. So it doesn’t make you remember a particular song,” says Amit, adding: “Music which used to heal you, which used to make you connect back with yourself and feel like your emotions are being sung in the song, that is something I’m missing. With this new season, we are going to use our experience, the school that we are coming from, but at the same time, we are going to use modern technology as well. So I am going to make a middle path here.”
{{/usCountry}}Looking at an industry increasingly shaped by younger artists and new technology, Sana believes there is still an audience for the music his generation represents. “People are not very happy with the kind of music that is being created these days. It is too daring; it overpowers your senses. So it doesn’t make you remember a particular song,” says Amit, adding: “Music which used to heal you, which used to make you connect back with yourself and feel like your emotions are being sung in the song, that is something I’m missing. With this new season, we are going to use our experience, the school that we are coming from, but at the same time, we are going to use modern technology as well. So I am going to make a middle path here.”
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