Padma Shri awardee Kailash Kher finds himself at the centre of a controversy in the wake of an interview he did with an IANS (Indo Asian News Service) journalist wherein it went viral that he was upset with the actress for taking chances away from genuine musicians.
What he purportedly said has been widely reported. But when we reached out to Kailash, he told us, "We were talking on a lighter note, two weeks back when I was asked the question. I smiled and said, that it cannot happen unless the perception and our mentality towards music is changed. Until and unless, we take music as an art, we cannot expect change. Or for people to take our music with respect or dignity. Unless we portray and serve that in that form. I then mentioned casually, how, a few days back I had read somewhere about an actress was going to open/perform when an international musician was performing. This is how it all started."
He reiterated that no perception about Indian music can change unless it is promoted well. "Ninety percent of the people in India are hungry for news and updates on what's happening around them. Whatever you publish and promote, people will make their perceptions according to that. What I had said in that interview is that I'm sure the actress would smile to herself when people internationally think, 'Oh she's a singer. Let's put a concert tour together.' She'd laugh them off saying, "I'm not a singer, I'm an actor".
That's why he says, it is up to an Indian promoter how he chooses to represent our music and thereby, our art. "Unless you see music as art, you will only treat it simply as a source of entertainment or as a a crowd-puller. And that doesn't send a good message. We have the best of singers, living queens of melody (Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle) and live-show akhaadebaaz like Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sukhwinder and others. Unless you promote them in your own country, you're not going to be respected abroad."
Through the initial interview, which spawned support from fellow musicians and a backlash from Sonakshi Sinha, "The intention was not to talk about a particular individual or offend anyone. (I understand that) an artist doesn't perform a show by himself/herself. A producer and show promoter does his job. Actors act, singers sing and so forth. Creative people will be working together on a particular project. That's what my idea was and I casually conveyed in the interview. I never named anyone in it. They just made the connection. There was no intention in offending anyone."
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 "Sonakshi Sinha vs Kailash Kher")
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