Asha Bhosle bats for ghazals in simple Hindi for its revival

Jaipur: Legendary singer Asha Bhosle, who has lent her voice to many memorable and melodious ghazals, says ghazal can be revived if written in simple Hindi as younger generation finds Urdu a bit complicated.

"The young boys and girls can relate to emotions and feelings, reflected through ghazals (a lyric poem), if written in simple Hindi," she said.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the Raymond MTV India Music Summit, she said, "Ghazals are mostly written in Urdu and to sing that one needs a proper classical base."

"The era of Urdu seems to be phasing out as the young generation doesn't understand and could not relate to its deep and meaningful words. Making the language simple and to retain the contemporariness is what's required today to bring back the lost legacy of ghazals," she said.

With simple language, the in-depth emotions and feelings of ghazals could be kept alive, she said.

To substantiate her views, the legendry singer cites an example. "Imagine a word 'takalluf' (formality or restrained behaviour). The today's generation will never understand this. They can't understand its meaning. Hence, ghazals need to be written in a language which can be understood by people of all age," said the veteran playback singer who has sung several ghazals.

Stating that practice of classical singing is a must to become a legendary singer, Asha Bhosle advised new-age singers "to learn classical music and practice it on a continuous note".

On the present-day music, she said it couldn't be termed authentic. "People are not understanding what's real soulful music. Those who have understood are trying to bring it back and I am standing for the cause with them. And hence I am here at this summit," she said.

Such events should be organised at different places of India to revive classical music because it was the base for music, she said and added, it (classical base) helped her sing all kinds of songs.

"If we compare the songs sung by singers with classical background and the fresh pass-outs who are trying to sing songs sung by veterans, we don't find the feelings and emotions that comes out form the one sung by Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi," she said.

"A good voice is a must to sing. But then you need to know how to express your feelings. Imagine a singer singing 'Ghar Aaja sainya'. If you have a right note in your style to evoke emotions of bringing your lover back home, then only you can make that song alive. And to make a song alive, you need thorough classical base," she said.

Expressing her love for Rajasthan, Asha Bhosle said, "This state is so beautiful with rich palaces. In fact, Jaipur and Jodhpur always fascinated me," said the prima donna of film music.