Folk, sufi music have great future in Hindi films, says Kailash Kher

Popular Bollywood singer Kailash Kher feels that folk and sufi music have a great future in Hindi films since the music is in tune with the taste of the masses in the sub-continent.

Kher says that music rooted to the earth is witnessing a surge in Bollywood films, and that is the reason why Punjabi and Rajasthani folk tunes and lyrics are getting popular in the past 10 years.

Talking to PTI, Kher, who has sung more than 50 songs for Hindi films, named Vishawl Bharadwaj, Asutosh Gowariker, Shimit Amin and Dibakar Banerjee among some filmmakers in whose films music gets a fresh treatment. Kher was in the city to  launch his “Ishq Anokha” music video.

He said, “In recent times I sang in the national award winner ‘Bahubali’ and the title song of “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”.  I am happy at the way my brand of music is being blended with the present-day films.”

Asked about the reason behind the non-film folk albums not getting as much popularity as film songs, Kher said, non-film songs did not enjoy the publicity of film music supported by big budgets.

There comes the role of the film market to popularise such a song, Kher, who gave such hits like ‘Teri Deewani’, ‘Tauba Tauba’ and ‘Ya Rabba’, said.

Kher, who has sung in seven Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu and  Kannada, said he did not believe one has to be a performer in the singing profession these days.

“I don’t say you have to be a performer for being a singer. God makes one bonsai and one big tree at the same time and both co-exist. More than being a performer, the pre-requisite of a singer is to be a good soul which will reflect in his personality,” Kher said.

Kher, who counts Parbati Das Baul among his friends among singers in Bengal, said being oblivious about one’s physical existence (bholapan) made the baul music, Lalon Fakir’s genre of music, soulful.

He said that his new album “Ishq Anokha” is aimed at the youth who could listen to the love songs while sipping coffee at malls.

“The young people are more dedicated as they will go all the way to purchase my albums while the older generation will just appreciate or criticise, seldom spending money to buy music,” Kher observed.