Thursday, 18 December 2008

Crooning glory or shining star

Some of our best known playback singers couldn't resist the lure of acting. But were they successful?


 
Multi-faceted Kishore Kumar managed acting, singing and production with equal elan

With hair or without it, the singer with a pronounced nasal voice, Himesh Reshammiya, thinks he is making waves as an `actor'. Big city audiences ignored or laughed at his maiden film Aap Ka Suroor which, however, had a slightly better reception in the smaller towns. Talent or no talent, Himesh was determined to become a `star' though his latest venture, Karzzzz, despite a couple of hummable songs, did not make waves either.

For some of our best known playback singers, the before-the-camera scene appeared more attractive than the one behind the microphone. Of course, before playback singing was discovered, the hero and heroine had to sing and men like K. L. Saigal are remembered today as much for their acting as for their singing. In his early days in films, Ashok Kumar sang his own songs, but finding it rather burdensome, passed the job on to playback singers.

When playback singing was at its nascent stage, stars who could also sing such as Suraiya, Surendra, Kanan Dewan were much sought after because of their two-in-one ability. During the 1950s some of the better looking, younger playback singers bowed to the urge to make a name as stars. At the zenith of his popularity, crooner Talat Mehmood began playing hero in films such as Dil-e-Nadan, Waris and Ek Gaon ki Kahani. He was good-looking, delivered his dialogue fairly well, but could not emote. None of his seven or eight films clicked in a big way. Sadly, they also affected his singing career adversely because music directors were under the impression that Talat Saab had decided to accept only singing roles and gradually the singer faded from the scene. His films had some outstanding numbers but unfortunately could not salvage his career.


 
Lured by the big screen Himesh Reshammiya is bent on making it as an actor

Mukesh, another popular singer, almost suffered the same fate. Again during the 1950s, he entered the acting arena with roles in films such as Mashuqa and Malhar which had an outstanding score by Roshan. His producers had an agreement signed which forbade him from singing in outside films. Mukesh cut a sorry figure on the screen, was horribly wooden and with great difficulty managed to salvage his singing career.

Kishore Kumar, however, was an exception. With great ‚lan, he managed singing, acting and production. For a time, Kishore combined his musical and acting talents successfully and achieved this by choosing the right kind of films, where his comic talent could be exploited. Thus in films such as Padosan, Half Ticket, Naukri and Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, he managed to create an impact.

In the process, Kishore became an inspiration to singers such as Sonu Nigam. But they could not reach his levels of success. Sonu had the voice and the good looks but nothing else and after a series of flops, Love in Nepal, Jaani Dushman and Ek Anokhi Kahani, confined himself to singing and public shows. Even music director and singer Bappi Lahiri tried his hand at acting but failed. But the lure always remained.

Tamil films

In the days before playback singing became established, both the stage and the screen had to make do with good singers on whom acting roles were thrust. Take Tamil films of the 1940s and early 1950s, where heroes and heroines sang their own songs and roles were specially written for those who could sing. This ushered in well known musicians such as Honnapa Bhagavathar and Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, and Carnatic music stalwarts such as Dandapani Desikar, G. N. Balasubramaniam and Musiri Subramania Iyer. Their roles made it clear that they did not have to `act', just keep on singing. They were aware of their lack of good looks and acting talent but agreed to act because the roles offered to them were those of saints, music gurus and so on where all they had to do was sing and fade away. The era of singers who intruded into acting existed in Hollywood too.

From the 1940s to the 1960s when musicals were popular, we had `crooners' such as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra belting out popular numbers. Some of them progressed to more dramatic roles (Sinatra in From Here to Eternity, Crosby in The Country Girl, Dean Martin in Young Lions), while others like Pat Boone made occasional forays into the screen with films such as April Love, Bernadine and Mardi Gras. Even the Beatles made very few films, being satisfied with their fabulous musical career.

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