Shreya Ghoshal: I don't want any of my songs to be recreated (IANS Interview)

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Versatile and renowned Indian playback singer Shreya Ghoshal, who is known for countless hit tracks in her kitty like ‘Bairi Piya’, ‘Silsila Ye Chahat Ka’, among numerous others, says she doesn’t want her any of the songs to be recreated, as she has ‘strong memories’ attached to them.

Shreya has sung professionally in over 20 languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, among many other languages. She sang more than 2405 songs in 20 plus languages, and especially in Hindi she sang 1100 plus songs.

Talking about the trend where original compositions often clash with recreations and remixes, Shreya told IANS: “I cannot see a lot of recreations happening off late. It was happening a lot 3-4 years ago. I was the same person who was upset with that, a few years ago. But now I don’t see that much happening.”

 “People have also become quite bored because of the repetition of the same song. The moment you see the song is not good or not done well, people immediately reject it. The song has to ultimately be loved by the people. And artists are responding to the frustration of the audience, and there is I think a lot of original work that is happening,” said Shreya.

Shreya, who is also known for her ghazal album ‘Humnasheen’ that released in 2014, said: “I think we should also celebrate the amazing independent music that is happening in today’s time. It’s not only film music, but new artists which I get to hear, that was not happening three-four years ago. This is new, and a very different time we are in. Now, underground artists are making waves. The generation today is listening to music differently, and they have a very strong choice. Times are changing and music has to be relevant to that.”

If she wants her songs to be recreated?

The 39-year-old singer said: “I don’t want any of my songs to be recreated, none of my songs. Even if it is asked to me to recreate I would probably say no. There are so many of my songs which I have very strong memories with. Those are sentimental.”

 “I may have those certain sentiments, but other audience members may not have. But, I do have a personal memory of that song, the process that song was made. So, probably it would be hard for me to say okay for the recreation of my own song,” she shared.

Shreya has recently teamed up with Alexandrian rapper and songwriter, Afroto for a new single ‘Sunn Beliya’, which is a part of the impressive Coke Studio 2023 lineup of releases. This unlikely combination brings together Shreya’s globally renowned vocals and phrasing, with Afroto’s boundary-pushing sense of melody and beats.

Talking about the same, she said, “the blend of two genres, and so many different kinds of musicians coming together, from rock, pop, classical everything happening at the same time. But I never thought that artists of two countries would collaborate this time, completely unexpected from a completely different sub-continent all together, that is new.”

Calling Afroto a wonderful team player, Shreya said he was a very interesting artist for me. “I was very happy to see his excitement, enthusiasm, and the communication which happened between the two of us, the two teams. It was seamless, felt so organic in every sense. Also I got to represent not just Hindi, which is my national language, but also Bangla, which is my mother language. I got to do two things in one song.”

“There was a very strong message in the song ‘Sunn Beliya’, about harmony, people. It’s almost like an anthem, a movement. So I feel it is a very positive, optimistic energy driving song. I can see people are already giving so much love for this,” she said.

Shreya has a glorious and successful two decades of career span. What belief system you followed throughout?

“I started at a very young age of 16 when I did my film songs. I never planned, even my parents who are the engines of this train which is going forward— none of us planned. And also there was no given route ahead. I am a very impulsive person, so is my dad, and we make decisions about what is right at this moment,” she said.

“Even, when I got this Coke Studio song, I thought it was the need of the moment. This is what I need to do as an artist now. If I didn’t do it, I would have been doing the same thing that I was doing in the last 20 years. I need to do something different. So every moment calls for an action and that kind of paves the path ahead, so whether there are successes or failures, that’s a secondary thing. You can not plan those things, none of the things you can plan for your future. God has planned everything for you, and you just need to be truthful for your actions,” she added.

Shreya’s last hit track is ‘Tum Kya Mile’ from ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt.