FLOP FIVE: Top composers go missing
Corporatisation within the film industry may have come as a boon to many. But for some others this has been one of the biggest nightmares come true. Some of the most prominent music directors of the '80s '90s (and even the first half of this decade) are now struggling for work, barely having a film or two in their kitty.
"It's the Internet!" scream many old timers. But there are others who lament the lack of interest on part of the producers to invest money in music composition.
Even others pine for the 'good old times' when audio rights was a separate territory altogether. Ask some of the industry insiders and they will tell you how the audio rights used to be sold on the mahurat day itself.
An insider says, "This was the golden era for the music industry. But then piracy began to eat into the share of the music companies and from there it was a downslide. MP3 came as the other nasty stroke."
As a result companies began focusing on manufacturing rather than creating music. The 100-musicians setup was quickly exchanged for a synthesiser and a computer, which would duplicate all sounds.
Today audio rights come as a package deal along with the video rights. In fact music companies today are unwilling to spend money on producing music but don't mind loosening their purse strings when it comes to picturising a song.
Here are five names who were once the busiest and best in their business but are now scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Ismail Darbar
For someone who has given hits such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa, Deewangee and Devdas, Ismail Darbar could have had far more films to his credit. Currently he is working only on two films, one of them with Saeed Mirza.
While no one will deny that Darbar is a great composer, almost everyone will tell you tales of his highhandedness. A source close to the composer says that the chap never listens to his producer. "He will almost never change a track he has composed. And that has cost him a lot."
Wha bout raamlaxman?..Who gave hits like maine pyaar kiya,humaapke hain kaun!
Ismail darbar is hyped over the top. The fact is that apart from hum dil de chuke sanam and devdas, the others were duds, with not a single composition to write home about. He also thinks too high of himself. By the way we have one more guy-anu malik, who's completely out of business. You had to watch him blowing his own trumpet in the rajeev masand hosted "to catch a star" in cnn ibn. That was a torture to see him brag about his compositions...
Ismail darbar is hyped over the top. The fact is that apart from hum dil de chuke sanam and devdas, the others were duds, with not a single composition to write home about. He also thinks too high of himself. By the way we have one more guy-anu malik, who's completely out of business. You had to watch him blowing his own trumpet in the rajeev masand hosted "to catch a star" in cnn ibn. That was a torture to see him brag about his compositions...