Namaste, Dear Music Lover, Well, it’s been quite an interesting month or so with (I hope) the once-in-a-lifetime ordeal given the 2019-20 novel-coronavirus global pandemic (and resultant COVID–19 disease)! While in the early 2000s, I did seriously consider a career in health sciences, instead my film music odyssey followed some TV appearances in connection with Sony/Fremantle’s Indian Idol show. […]
Namaste, Dear Music Lover, Most great Bollywood movies have at least one romantic scene as part of the story. Often, the leading characters either have a “magic moment” (such as when they first meet, or when a relationship takes a turn, e.g. the couple endures some shared experience—like a fright, struggle or other plot complication) […]
Namaste, Dear Music Lover, I want to share with aspiring singers a tip about working in Bollywood playback (movie soundtrack) singing: there is usually some (intended, maybe) literal link between song lyrics and a movie’s visual action/story or hope that songs convey emotional moments or feelings to highlight or support the cinematic narrative, and they may […]
Namaste, Dear Music Lover, First, I must note that this post is not mainly about thespian (theatrical/screen) acting. It’s really about what’s termed as composure or how one carries oneself on stage (and of course, wherever else one performs). Other related terms: posture, carriage, stage presence and persona. Being “in the limelight” (in other words, […]
Namasté, Dear Music Lover, This will be one of my briefest posts here. I just want to acknowledge the importance of gaining control over one’s own mind—being a key aspect of training oneself as a pro vocalist. We are given notes and guidance from composers about how to approach various texts and melodies (the voice […]
Namasté, Dear Music Lover, Dance is among the most ancient modes of human expression. Virtually every global region, country or locale has some form of traditional-cultural dance… in general we call many such dance forms folkloric or folk dances. Hindu classical dance is nice, too. India’s dance traditions are about as ancient as any others […]
Namasté, Dear Music Lover, I remain so focused on Bollywood movie songs that I have delegated some “routine” activities like web site administration to Footman Joe (my manservant), who along with limited guidance from a few others at Team Antara/T–Mantra Music covers this aspect of my so-called online presence. Whereas generally it’s more like an […]
Namasté, Dear Music Lover, Certainly I’m not here to push for one or the other, nor to tell anyone but myself how to feel, yet I think of many singers… we struggle with being some specific identity or balance of influences that “places” us in the constellations of singers as one or the other for […]
Kindness costs us nothing. Why bother hating—if it’s far too difficult to prosecute or defend? Which it usually is. Kindness. Let’s keep it in mind. I want to add a sort of quick “disclaimer” here and let everyone know that I had no intention to jump into the fray over whether Sonu-ji one of my dear […]
Namaste, Dear Music Lovers, One aspect of being “in the public eye” is the tendency of artists/performers to fall into some variation of “people pleasing behaviours” and I’ll admit it’s practically a given for singers. If we’re not already overloaded with pressure to produce excellence by a music director or composer, we can find ourselves […]