Home   Forum   Wiki   Notes   Register   FAQ   Sitemap   About Us   Contact Us  

Singers with an accent

Topic started by Subra (@ spleen.ee.cornell.edu) on Thu Oct 1 18:20:01 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi Netters,

Hariharan might have a mellifluous voice but when he sings in tamil he has a definite accent. I personally think he should stick to hindi songs and avoid TFM. I believe he is a tamilian brought up in bombay. Hariharan's voice turns me off when he spoils a good tamil song this way. Has anyone else felt the same?

Other singers who mispronounce: Suresh Peters, ARR, Udit Narayan, Asha Bhonsle, the female voice is Kadal Vanile(Rasaiah). Any additions to this list?

---

Responses:

• From: Srikanth (@ slip-32-101-16-44.il.us.ibm.net) on: Thu Oct 1 19:29:04 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  Udit and Asha can be let alone , they are from north, their mother tounge is not Tamil.
  
  Other 2 must have thier tounge cut without any question asked
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Shibu TN (@ 166-71-99.ipt.aol.com) on: Thu Oct 1 20:54:19 EDT 1998
  
  Well said Srikanth
  
  
• From: Ravi (@ envy.cs.umass.edu) on: Thu Oct 1 21:40:15 EDT 1998
  
  Guys, please check the archives. This has been discussed a few times before.
  
  
• From: UV (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Mon Oct 5 00:59:00 EDT 1998
  
  srikanth,
  Include preethi uttam singh also in the list of Non-tamil singers
  
  
• From: Senthil (@ rm431.cs.usu.edu) on: Fri Oct 9 21:43:28 EDT 1998
  
  Cmon , if u guys start argument on this then
  i have to mention one of the greatest singer
  K.J Yesudas . if u notice his songs he has a typical malyala tamil accent.
  for example in andaman kadali - andamanai parungal azhagu is the song he pronounces senthoora bandham
  as senthura Benthem . BTW 90% of tamil singers
  are non tamil . either teluguite or malayalee.
  SPB, Janaki, P susheela, mano - Telugus
  Chitra, Swarnalatha, Sujatha, Unnikrishnan - Malayalees .
  
  we should not care too much abt this unless it
  is too horrible for a good lyric.
  
  
• From: RAJA (@ cerberus5.fon.sprintcorp.com) on: Tue Oct 13 14:48:55 EDT 1998
  
  SPB,Mano, Swarnalatha and Sujatha have absolutely no "Non Tamil" accent. Chitra is 99% perfect, except when she says "R" in place of "r". P Susheela initially had a Telugu accent (pronunciation) like Santhosham instead of Sandhosham but mostly had no problem with acent. S Janaki's pronunciation was fine but for many songs her words were not clear (Thana vandha sandhanamey, maniye manikkuiley, for example. Unnikrishnan, Jesudas, Jeyachandran, MG Srikumar all have very strong Malayali accent with UK specially having a Palghat Tamizh accent. All others basically suck in pronunciation in various degrees.
  
  
• From: shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Wed Oct 14 00:51:43 EDT 1998
  
  Jency Antony mispronounces some words like 'ga' as 'ha'.She sings deiveega rAgam as deiveeha rAgam and adi peNNe as adi penne.
  
  
• From: Ravy (@ eagle.vapower.com) on: Wed Oct 14 08:22:10 EDT 1998
  
  RAJA: Chitra has had problems not only with 'r' and 'R' but also with 'l' and 'L'. I haven't paid much attention to her recent songs but in 'malaiyoram mayilae'(oruvar vaazhum alayam) duet with MV she pronounced viLaiyatta as vilayatta repeatedly.
  
  Also, who is the female singer in 'thayya thayya' (uyirae)? Pronouncing 'kuruvigaLa' as 'kuruviHaLa' is really irritating.
  
  
• From: shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Wed Oct 14 09:51:12 EDT 1998
  
  ravy,
  It's mAlgAdi subha...
  
  
• From: Raja (@ cerberus5.fon.sprintcorp.com) on: Wed Oct 14 10:46:54 EDT 1998
  
  I have noticed that in many instances Ga is pronounced as Ha by many singers, probably many in conversation too. While I am clear that in written Tamil, Ga is Ga and Ha is Ha as required, I think the substitution of Ha for Ga is almost colloquial poetic license. Any thoughts ?
  On a different note, why do tamizh MDs/Producers/Directors insist on bringing washed up North Indian artists (Lata, Asha) to South Indian film music when clearly the reverse traffic does not happen because of "Madarasi" politics played by North Indians ? By doing this are'nt we decreasing the value of good singers. IMO Lata basically sucks in Jiya Jaley. If she were a horse I would recommend that she be put to sleep. Maybe, Maniratnam made this call (because I'm told that many times know all film directors give specific directions to MDs to "ensure" that the song/movie is a commercial hit.)Assuming it is so, he cannot claim that he makes "OSCAR" quality movies. Oscar quality movies do not compromise on talent of artists selected to do a particular job. As you can see I feel very strongly about it.
  
  
• From: Annapurna (@ ws239-24.allen.msstate.edu) on: Wed Oct 14 15:41:48 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  
  The 'reverse traffic' observation is perhaps true about the singers. It is possible that our singers are refusing to accept offers, because, we have the same set of singers singing in Tamizh, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, which perhaps puts a considerable strain on them. This is my opinion.
  But it being due to "Madarasi politics", is perhaps questionable. On a digressive note, South Indian actresses have ruled the Hindi film industry for decades ( and I mean DECADES) despite, the oh-so-awful hindi accents of Hema Malini and Sridevi.
  
  Again, in my opinion, the "Lata.... horse" comment was quite mean.
  
  
• From: Raja (@ cerberus5.fon.sprintcorp.com) on: Wed Oct 14 16:26:29 EDT 1998
  
  I apologise for the "Lata...horse" comment. The intention was not to offend anyone. However, having said that, let me take an extreme view. I am surprised by the greed (in the absence of a better choice I once again use a strong word) exhibited by LM in continuing to render playback songs. For gods sake! Does'nt she listen to her own tracks ? She has depreciated significantly depreciated in voice quality, control of the notes and pitch, but I'm sure she has not lost the listening skills. I wish to remember Lata for Rasik balma, Ruke Ruke Se Qadam....etc. Didi Tera Dewar, DDLJ etc are quite painful. I'm not disputing that they are commercial hits, but hey, Zoheb Hassan had a hit too. Plus, Lata dominated the industry (at the expense of Suman, Vani, and even Asha) and I only wished that she gracefully hung her boots. Using another example, take Engengey Engengey (Nerukku Ner.)Everytime I hear Asha's voice, especially after Hariharan's part, I feel angry. Sorry, but I am very possessive about maintaining at least a minimum std. of presentation.
  
  
• From: Annapurna (@ ws239-24.allen.msstate.edu) on: Wed Oct 14 16:35:37 EDT 1998
  
  Hi ,
  I would add S.Janaki to the list of "cannot-bear-to-hear-you-now" singers. I personally feel SPB too is losing the youthfulness in his voice. And I would say that SPB also dominated the singing field for a very looooooong time. To ARR goes the credit of bringing in new singers.
  
  
  
• From: vijay (@ 129.252.27.23) on: Wed Oct 14 17:47:38 EDT 1998
  
  can u give any examples of SPB losing his youthfulness? have u heard 'azhagoviyam' sung by SPB for murali? all the new singers pale in comparison. no singer introduced by ARR can ever match SPB, SJ or chitra. these so called new singers disappear with the same speed that they are introdcuced with.
  
  
• From: Raja (@ cerberus5.fon.sprintcorp.com) on: Wed Oct 14 19:00:47 EDT 1998
  
  I have to agree with Vijay on this. SPB has been the king of Tamil and Telugu for a long time and even now he sounds fantastic. In fact he sounds as if he is singing more effortlessly than before. This could be due to the enhancement and the benefit of new technology. He is anyday the "king of expression". I wish Hariharan, who has enormous talent, can focus on "proper" expression. For some reason he does'nt seem consistent across songs and sometimes even within the same song. Vennilavey Vennilavey (from Minsara Kanavu) is a case in point. His voice modulation is all over tha place. This is also because the owner of "Panchatan Record Inn" has done a bad job of "Punch"ing various tracks. I emphasize "proper" expression. For example, Udit Narayan tries to give expression by doing the "ragasiyamaa paadara" technique, but many times he sounds really bad. BTW, I am always pleasantly surprised by the rendition of Kamalahaasan. His comical expressions in kaasumeley shows that "he gets it". He is not a great musician but he does understands the nuances of playback singing, which I feel, is a combination of song plus acting. Unless you belong to the culture, you cannot do proper justice.
  SPB as good as he is, sounds "southy" when he renders Hindi songs - not because his pronunciation is faulty. He is a good student of the art. However, being a long time resident of South India his expressions, emotions, brigas etc. are reminescent of South Indian singing styles. Yesudas suffered from the same defect - only more seriously. If you hear SPB's rendition of Chaudvin ka Chand in "Enathu Isai PayaNam" you will notice that while he claims Md. Rafi has been a big influence on his singing, it is not obviously so. I love you SPB as god himself, but your rendition of Chaudvin and Mere Nainaa are bad!!!
  
  From the heart of ekalavyan.
  
  
  
• From: avr (@ ) on: Wed Feb 7 23:21:14 EST 2001
  
  Dear Readers
  I read mr. govindarajan's comments about Lata on the TFM page. It is true that she has lost the previous quality of her vocals. But, still she is very good compared to her age. Have you heard her excellent renditions in 'Rudaali'
  and 'Lekin' where she has displayed exquisite range. All the songs in these films are classical. In fact Rudaali has a 'bandish' in raag Malhar. And have you heard RD Burmans 'Sili hawa chhoo gayee',
  and the song 'Aakash ke us paar bhi' during the national games. And what about her soul-stirring solo in Godmother which Vishal Bharadwaj had absolutely refused to give to any other singer.
  Its true that 'Jiya Jale' wasnt too good, but I heard it in Chitra's voice during AR Rahman's Dubai concert. And I knew that the difference goes largely in Lata's favour in terms of expression, diction,everything,
  inspite of the fact that Chitra is probably half of Lata's age.
  
  And one more important point. Lata has been the reigning queen in Hindi film music for several decades, because she was the decided favourite of almost all music directors. I am sure she did not thwart any co-singer.
  Have you ever read Geeta Dutt's interview? She always maintains that Lata was cooperative,helpful and a tremendous workaholic. Its this 'mehnat' that has taken her to the top. Even Talat Mehmood, Shamshad Begum, Mukesh, Manna Dey opine the same. As far as Suman is concerned, she too never blames Lataji.
  In fact she always admits that Lata was far better, and that Lata had strived hard to give her (Suman) a chance. It has happened that Lata has witnessed several of Suman's recordings and helped her during those. Belive me, I've seen or read at least 8 interviews of Suman.
  Its only some silly journalists who have spread this filthy rumour about an artist as senior as Lata. And if you're still not satisfied, read Noorjehans interview too. Noorjehan has spoken about Lata in the 'Legends' series launched by HMV. In this she said
  ' Lata calls me a phenomenon. But thats her humility . I dont think there is any other singer as great as Lata and Asha'.
  
  Now we come to Asha's point. Had Lata thwarted Asha, Asha would NEVER EVER have praised Lata publicly. Even today, she says that a voice as good as Lata's will never appear for another thousand years. She strictly denies the rumour that Lata indulged in lobbying or monopoly.
  
  Finally we come to Vani Jairam. Why didnt vani Jairam make as big a name down South, as Lata did in the north? Vani Jairam was successful,true, but not as much as P Susheela or S Janaki. I have even read about P Susheela in which she calls Lata the undisputed Nightingale of India. Vani did not have Latas sweetness ,range and diction. Moreover she was heavily accented.
  
  It is definitely not Latas fault if she has been the favourite of so many. Sajjad Hussain, the exacting professional famous for his highly complex arabic tunes wanted Lata and Lata only. So did Salil Chaudhary
  for his frothy western classical based songs. So did Madan Mohan and Roshan for their supreme ghazals. And so did Laxmikant-Pyraelal, Vasant Desai, C Ramchandra, Shankar Jaikishan,and Rajesh Roshan and Bhupen Hazarika, and many more.
  In fact, listen to Lata's private albums like her collection of Meera bhajans and Ghazals of Mirza ghalib (these prove her TERRIFIIC breath control). In a classical album with Bhimsen Joshi, I felt she sounded better than he did.
  I feel these points are more than sufficient to prove that Lata is a divine singer. I do like Vani's voice. I am a north indian. I dont understand any of the 4 southern languages, but I listen to a lot of Telugu and Tamil songs. So I love P susheela.
  In fact India has many,many good singers, many from the South too.
  But Lata is divine and heavenly.
  
  So I feel we must all gather some facts from reliable sources before blatantly throwing words like these. I think many Indians take pride in defaming their own successful brethren. The other day I heard somebody blaming MS Subbalaxmi and even CV Raman like this!!! I think this is nonsense!!
  
  Please let me know your reaction to this.
  Thanking you and apologizing for my harsh language,
  Ajit
  
  
  
  
• From: hari (@ 128.83.175.32) on: Thu Feb 8 01:15:21 EST 2001
  
  well ajit, u are probably rt,.. but a lot of my northie friends have told me how lata thwarted vani jayram's chances, by even influencing AIR not to broadcast that fantastic Bol re papi haraa... They say it as if it is a known well acknowledged fact.
  
  

---

List all pages of this thread

Post comments