Brat-pop chronicles

It was just over a week ago when India woke up to another one of its richest children launching a ‘debut international single’. Ananya Birla, the 22-year-old offspring of the Birlas was at it this time, with her single titled Livin’ The Life.

Shot at a dreamy island in California, the song doesn’t contain more than a handful of verses (which are repeated throughout the video) featuring the affluent singer truly ‘living’ it, while doing everything ‘cool’ — she’s dancing, paragliding, a little bit of zipping, and what not! And in no time, after this song was released, the 20-something then went on to share the stage with one of the biggest bands that India has seen perform — Coldplay.

While one may think she’s being judged too quick, the industry mogul’s daughter reportedly only lip-synced to the song while performing on stage — and that too was out of sync! Maybe she did deserve the accusations after all?
‘Brat pop’ is what the world has termed this singer — as if it couldn’t believe the extent to which entitlement could take someone — atleast in the short run.

Suchitra Karthik Kumar:
I have always been in advertising, and singing was never supposed to be a part of my career. Even when I started off, I was never sure that singing was really going to cut it for me. I belong to a lower middle-class family which believes that I need to have a 9 to 5 job in order to be stable. I’ve been in the industry for 12 years and opportunities still keep opening up for me.

From the place that I am, when I see other people getting opportunities, I realise everyone’s getting them for a completely different reason. If one’s gone to a guitar class for a year and knows how to write few verses about love, rainbows and blue skies — one can release a single. Even Shekar Kapoor’s daughter for that matter, I couldn’t believe that everyone was going gaga over it! I know she’s a young girl, and kids half her age are nailing it in reality shows like it’s nobody’s business. It’s about people releasing singles just because they can. And I don’t grudge on Ananya either, for getting to perform alongside Coldplay, because I know what got her there. I’m just amused at what’s going on in the industry. But no talent has been definitely harmed in the making of an Ananya Birla — because that is not a path a talented singer would have been on, in any case.

That path belongs to people like her. Her competition is never another talented singer, but perhaps only another celebrity’s daughter who can’t sing.

Premji Amaren:
I’ve composed music for a handful of films. But, people still don’t recognise me as a musician. And not many really know how much music means to me. I’ve received a lot of flak in social media with many commenting that I have been getting chances just because I’m from a very influential family. And the comments are only going to become stronger if I become a top music director someday. I don’t really care. Haters will always hate. It’s not really about you being a star kid or not — for sustainability, all that matters is talent. And I don’t think musicians receive backlash only because of ‘nepotism’.

People have problems with talents who become an overnight sensation — take Justin Bieber for example, many hate him just because he’s so famous. I would like to again insist that if you’re talented, you should just keep doing what you’re good at and not take criticism seriously.

Pragathi Guruprasad
In this part of the world, influence plays such a large role, in how far one gets and how many opportunities one gets to make it big. This concept is something new to me, because living in the US, none of this ever worked. For me, I had to work it out the hard way, having no contacts whatsoever when I entered the industry, and making my way up the ladder.

Realising that some people have it so much easier because of their influence is definitely hard to accept. It’s very prevalent in the industry here (but not just in the music industry). And I wouldn’t say that I haven’t had my fair share of using my contacts or the people I know to move myself forward — I wouldn’t say I haven’t done it.

But I think that here, it is necessary to be related to someone, to know someone that could help you. The platform that launched me definitely helped me a lot, but there were many times when I was always a second choice in the industry because I am not related to someone big. It’s a little unfortunate and difficult for those who are working from scratch to make their name, even though they are highly talented. But speaking to the right people and networking the right way definitely helps a lot.

Vandana Srinivasan
To say it (nepotism or privilege) exists only in the music industry would be a myopic view of things — it’s prevalent across industries and various other strata. But that’s just the way things are. To be honest, we enjoy pointing the finger at other people when it comes to favoritism but we all engage in it at different levels. Some are just more tangible/visible. I was a complete outsider at the beginning of my career in the music industry, so I have felt the sting quite a few times. But I have also been at the receiving end of it in a few situations and there’s no denying that I enjoyed it. It may not be a fair practice, but I suppose it’s hard to make objective choices all the time.