{"id":4333,"date":"2009-01-31T22:49:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-31T17:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indiauncut.com\/?p=3247"},"modified":"2009-01-31T22:49:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-31T17:19:00","slug":"jagjit-singh-and-the-green-eyed-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/jagjit-singh-and-the-green-eyed-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"Jagjit Singh And The Green-Eyed Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"
There are few things as poignant as a great artist, in the autumn of his career, getting embittered by the success of younger artists. I am a fan of Jagjit Singh, and his petty outburst today<\/a> against AR Rahman and Gulzar is pathetic. Particularly this bit of WTFness:<\/p>\n After lambasting Rahman’s work, saying it’s just an imitation of Western music, Singh has now challenged the Oscar-nominated composer to sing ghazals to prove his talent.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rahman hasn’t got his Oscar nominations for Best Musical Performance in Ghazal Singing, so I don’t see the relevance of Singh’s challenge. Of course<\/i> Rahman would be unable to do justice to “Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho”—but he’d be no worse than Singh trying to sing “Tere Bina” from Guru<\/i> or “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” from Swades<\/i>. So fricking what? They’re both exceptional at what they do, and while Singh has a right to his opinion, this kind of public petulance lowers him in everybody’s eyes.<\/p>\n Singh, by the way, had asked the government<\/a> a few years ago to “ban Pakistani singers from performing in India.” I wonder if that was motivated by misplaced nationalism, as I had then assumed, or something else.<\/p>\n Update<\/b>: Bharat Dhurka emails me a link to a video clip<\/a> of Singh talking about Rahman and Gulzar. In the clip, Singh asks Rahman to compose<\/i> a ghazal, not to sing one—HT’s<\/i> quotes might well be taken from something Singh said elsewhere, of course.<\/p>\n In any case, that demand is as absurd—like Paul McCartney challenging Eminem to write a ballad to prove himself as a songwriter. How silly would that be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are few things as poignant as a great artist, in the autumn of his career, getting embittered by the success of younger artists. I am a fan of Jagjit Singh, and his petty outburst today<\/a> against AR Rahman and Gulzar is pathetic. Particularly this bit of WTFness:<\/p>\n After lambasting Rahman’s work, saying it’s just an imitation of Western music, Singh has now challenged the Oscar-nominated composer to sing ghazals to prove his talent.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rahman hasn’t got his Oscar nominations for Best Musical Performance in Ghazal Singing, so I don’t see the relevance of Singh’s challenge. Of course<\/i> Rahman would be unable to do justice to “Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho”—but he’d be no worse than Singh trying to sing “Tere Bina” from Guru<\/i> or “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” from Swades<\/i>. So fricking what? They’re both exceptional at what they do, and while Singh has a right to his opinion, this kind of public petulance lowers him in everybody’s eyes.<\/p>\n\n
\n