Javed Akhtar on present day music, ‘India is a country of singers’

One of the most acclaimed lyricists in the Indian film industry, Javed Akhtar shed light on how Western music is being liked more in India nowadays despite not being too popular in the West.

Speaking about the present music in the country, Akhtar quoted the late Lata Mangeshkar who had said that earlier music was made to give singers some rest, but nowadays music is such that music gets some rest.

“In the West, music is made to be heard. There the common man does not sing. But India is a country of singers. Here the use of music is different. Here such music is being made which is not needed at all. That is why music is ending,” he explained.

Stressing his point further, Akhtar added, “Kids come to singing shows and they sing 40-year-old songs, not those which were released a few days ago.”

He further commented on Diljit Dosanjh casting Pakistani actress Hania Amir in his film “Sardaar Ji 3”.

Akhtar pointed out that the backlash has no point as the film had been shot before things got tense between the two countries.

“How was he to know? Pakistan will not lose money (because of this), our countryman will… Laws can’t be applied retrospectively… The Censor Board and the government should look at this sympathetically. They can say it shouldn’t happen again,” he shared.

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, who was also a part of the event, added, “I can’t say much on the row, but since I know Diljit, I can say that us mein deshbhakti ka jazbaa poora bhara hua hai (He is a patriot at heart). He is a son of the soil. You can see at all his concerts, he shows up with the Indian flag.”

He added that Diljit is not someone who fakes things.