What is common between Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Dulquer Salmaan, Indrajith, Remya Nambeesan, Lal, Murali Gopi, Mamta, Bhamaa, Nazriya and Jayasurya? Of course they are all actors. But apart from that, what they share in common is that they have crooned for their onscreen avatars. Whether they are stepping on the toes of professional playback singers or showcasing their creativity on a different track, the breed of singing actors in Mollywood is on the rise. Nazriya and Jayasurya are the latest additions to this list, with Nazriya singing a song for Salala Mobiles and Jayasurya lending his voice for a song in 'Punnyalan Agarbattis'.
In recent times, many actors have headed towards the recording studio and surprised one and all with their singing talent. InÂterestingly, all the songs sung by actors have become chartbusters and have gone viral on the Internet. Could this trend be a threat to the careers of playback singers?
Playback singer Gayathri Ashokan says, “Such is the advancement in technology that even a non-singer can croon a song without much practice. Nowadays, there are lots of software to correct voice modulations and shruthi. While singers spend hours getting their song right, these software help actors to sing a song without much effort. However, if you ask these actors to perform live, they will not be able to do so. It is a fact that singers never get due consideration or attention, but now thanks to ventures like MTV Coke Studio and Kappa TV, singers are getting an opportunity to come into limelight. I am not saying this is a full blown war between celeb singing and singers; it is a just a passing phase.”
There are exceptions like Remya Nambeesan, who is a trained singer, and has garnered accolades for her singing abilities, which fetched her more opportunities to sing across the four South Indian languages.
Music director Bijipal says, “It is free publicity for the film when actors sing. The song catches the attention of the audience and it definitely helps the film. It will be the same if one day Yesudas decides to act in films! Yesteryear actor Adoor Bhasi had sung in one of his movies, so this trend has been going on for years now. But that doesn’t mean the trend of actor-singers will always continue. I got Jayasurya to croon a track for Punnyalan AgarÂbattis but that does not mean I will make him sing for my next project.”
In agreement with BijiÂpal is Ratheesh Vega, whose Aattu Manal Payayil… crooned by Mohanlal, went on to become a chartbuster.
Says Ratheesh, “I don’t think celeb singers are a threat to playback singers. Actors sing just for the heck of trying something different. Take a look at last year’s statistics, around 150 films were released in which there are 400-450 songs. Most of them were sung by playback singers except two or three songs crooned by celebs. It depends on the situation of the song.”
Singer Sayanora says, “In Hollywood, the tradition has always been for actors to sing their own songs, and not to have playback singers. We have seen countless of them in movies like Tangled and High School Musical. The same is happening here. Music directors decide to make actors lend their voice for songs. But that does not mean there is a competition between playback singers and actor-singers. Everyone does what they are good at, some may be successful, others might not.”
