Kavita Seth: Do something about women’s empowerment, don’t just talk about it

Singer Kavita Seth, famous for Bollywood numbers like Tumhi Ho Bandhu and Iktara, laments the steadily shrinking opportunities for female playback singers, and urges people to take concrete action against bias.

Not every celebrity is content with all the talk about empowerment for women; some of them would like to see less talk and more action. Singer Kavita Seth is in the latter group.

Singer Kavita Seth says that along with shrinking opportunities in Bollywood, demonetisation and its adverse impact on live shows is also a problem for female artists, because they always get a smaller slice of the pie.

She’s upset that the people of India only make the right noises but don’t really do anything to ensure that the desired change happens, and that women feel as much in control as the men do.

Kavita cites an example of persistent discrimination that’s quite ironic. “I remember this year’s [International] Women’s Day was being celebrated at some place, where they wanted songs to be sung by male singers. I understand there could be some reasons why they preferred men over women. But then, what’s the point of celebrating Women’s Day in our country? On one hand, you celebrate women and talk about women’s empowerment; on the other hand, you discriminate against them in such situations,” she says.

READ | Where are the women singers in Bollywood? Music industry reacts

The 47-year-old singer and composer, famous for numbers such as Tumhi Ho Bandhu (from Cocktail, 2012) and Iktara (Wake Up Sid, 2009), also laments that women are getting fewer songs in Hindi films. (This was established by a recent Hindustan Times analysis, which found that in 2017, Bollywood films had 126 songs performed by male artists, and only 56 by female artists. The study analysed films since the 1950s and found that the share of playback for women has been steadily on the decline.) Kavita appeals to all those “who talk about empowering women” to fix issues such as this, and to not let women be marginalised.

Stating that everyone knows Bollywood is a male-dominated industry, Kavita adds, “Apart from item numbers, women hardly get anything to sing. Forget about solo songs, even duets are fewer for women nowadays.” Conceding that who sings a song would depend on a particular situation in a film, Kavita suggests that more opportunities could be created for female artists if women-centric films got a boost.

She reiterates, “People should do something to ensure that women’s empowerment is happening, rather than just talk about it or celebrate Women’s Day.” Kavita adds that as a woman, she finds it tough to even earn enough. Because, she says, “After demonetisation, live gigs and concerts have taken a big hit. Since November (2016) to April last year, I did almost no shows, and had to survive by doing really small shows. It has been very difficult to make money from concerts since then; especially when you’re a female musician, concerts don’t happen in big numbers.”

Interact with the author on Twitter/@sammysamarth