JAY JOSHI
Both social media and Bollywood recently witnessed the phenomenal rise of Ranu Mondal, a singer who rose to fame from the platform of the railway station, and into the recording studio, thanks to the efforts of singer and composer Himesh Reshammiya. Mondal’s entry in Bollywood served to inspire many and also brought on its own share of controversy.
The singer’s voice is said to be similar to that of veteran singer lata Mangeshkar, whose songs Ranu used to sing. Responding to Ranu’s changed circumstances, Lata Mangeshkar said, “If anyone benefits from my name and work, I feel fortunate, but I also feel imitation is not a reliable and durable companion for success. By singing my songs or Kishoreda’s (Kishore Kumar) or Rafi Saab’s (Mohammed Rafi) or Mukesh Bhaiyya (Mukesh Kumar) or Asha’s (Asha Bhosle) numbers, aspiring singers can get short-term attention. But it won’t last”.
The comment sparked a controversy on social media as fans criticised Mangeshkar over the statement, calling it a fall from grace. Many netizens felt that rather than encouraging and helping Mondal, Mangeshkar is instead taking a dig at the latter. However, there are many speculations on whether that is actually the case. TG Life spoke to a number of singers and composers across Goa to probe what role do both imitation and originality play in the rise of a singer.
“What Lata Mangeshkar said is right. Becoming famous by imitating someone is entirely different from earning a name for yourself with your own original work,” says music teacher and singer Mandar Kelkar. “For originality, you need hard work and training coupled with innovation. There’s no denying that you could work hard to imitate a song perfectly. But originality is when you introduce your own variations into that song, develop your own style of singing the song and later create your own original songs,” says Kelkar.
Gautami Hede, a singer and composer from Ponda avers that there are many subtle angles to the issue. “It may be so that Ranu Mondal is being called as another Lata by some and that did not sit well with Lata Mangeshkar. If that is the case, then, Lata’s anger is understandable. Personally, I do not like imitation myself and I disapprove of the current trend in Bollywood to remix old melodies in a way that takes away the soul of the original song.That said, why are songs created? They are made so that they could be sung on in times to come. So, there is nothing wrong in someone singing a song by a famous singer but if one is serious about making it big as a singer, then one will have to create one’s original song after a point,” Hede states.
Singer and composer Ester Noronha from Margao also toes the same line of thought. “There is some truth to what Lataji has said. Original is always more appreciated,” says Noronha, speculating on why fans interpreted Mangeshkar’s comment in a particular manner. “Perhaps when you are emotionally connected to a person’s story and the background of a person, you get carried away with that story. And when someone is saying something about it, you connect the dots and make it sound in a different light altogether,” contemplates Noronha, hinting at the possibility that social media might be too emotionally attached to Mondal’s story to see the core point in Mangeshkar’s statement.
Responding to the controversy, singer and music director Himesh Reshammiya, who brought Ranu Mondal to bollywood has stated that it is important to see in which connotation Mangeshkar has made the remark. Even so, it is also important to get inspiration from someone, Reshammiya has said.
On her own part, Ranu Mondal has said that she never lost hope and kept learning continiously by listening to cassettes and expressed gratitude towards Reshammiya for offernig her a platform she never anticipated of gaining. She has, however, made no comments about the controversy surrounding her singing.
All things said and done, the controversy has not affected Mondal’s blossoming career in Bollywood, but it is true that she will have to bring in hard work and innovation to survive in the industry in the long run.
