The Jagjit Singh Chat
Elegant, urbane, quiet and educated, Jagjit Singh made an impression with his chat. He responded to most greetings and left few questions unanswered.
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Jagjit Singh
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Indian (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:50 IST)
Hello Everbody! Has the ghazal king arrived?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:51 IST)
Indian: Yes he is here and sends his greeting to all ghazal fans.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:49 IST)
Hello Mr Singh, I like all the ghazals you sing and we all here miss your wife Chitra Singh. Will she ever sing again?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:52 IST)
Queen: We are trying our best to bring her back in music, at least for recording ghazal albums.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:52 IST)
Jagjitji.. why don't you come out with only Punjabi folk songs album? I remember you sang them very well...
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:53 IST)
CRY: I'm afraid that you will then brand me as a Punjabi artist only and you must have a small dose of every tasteful thing.
Faiz ka Kalam (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:53 IST)
I believe Chitraji will start singing again this year. It is wonderful news. When can we expect this happy event? How is her health now?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:54 IST)
Faiz ka Kalam: She is in fine health and practising daily. by the end of this century you will definitely have an album by Chitra.
Indian (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:54 IST)
Mr. Singh, Do you think ghazals will be able to survive in this age of fast and funky music?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:55 IST)
Indian: Yes definitely. There is a famous saying, "Speed gives you thrills, but it kills also." This modern music will die its own death.
Raghupati Sahay (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:55 IST)
How do you account for your success? I was from Bombay and hear that you were associated with Sardarflute. How did a Sardar become so good at singing ghazals? Did you have any musical inclinations when you were young?
kane (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:54 IST)
Hello Mr Jagjit Singh! Why have you never compiled an album featuring ghazals of one poet, say Faiz, Sahir or Mir?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:58 IST)
Raghupati Sahay : I have nothing to do with the Sardarflute and a Sardar is also a human being. He can also do anything that you can do.
Kane: I didn't get the time and its very difficult to acquire the rights from Pakistani poets. But occasionally I have sung Mir and in my live concerts; I have sung Faiz and Sahir also.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:56 IST)
Thank you Jagjitji.. you have made a name for yourself by simplifying ghazals for people who don't understand the ones that Mehdi Hasan sang.. but do you personally think that it was a nice thing to do? You must have got a lot of mixed reaction to this....
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:59 IST)
CRY: Yes . Now the canvas of ghazal audience has become very wide and more and more people have started learning Urdu.
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:59 IST)
CRY:(MORE) This happened because of simplification of the languages of ghazals.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:58 IST)
Mr Singh.. who are your favourite poets?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:0 IST)
Queen: Whosoever writes well. I don't care for names.
Faiz ka Kalam (Thu Aug 7 1997 19:59 IST)
Fantastic! I have been intrigued by the fact that a Sardar and a Bengali have revived ghazals in this country. Was it clever marketing or was it just that you were there at the right time?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:1 IST)
Faiz ka Kalam: I can't say anything about this, you cannot pin point the reason. It may be sheer luck.
Indian (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:1 IST)
Sir, Can you tell us about your new album "Love is Blind"
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:3 IST)
Indian: Love is Blind' its an album of 8 new ghazals written by different poets. And dedicated to the national association of blind. It deals with different themes, nothing to do with blindness.
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:2 IST)
Jagjitji.. will you give music to films now considering that music is a big thing in the industry? what do you think about music in films these days?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:4 IST)
CRY: NO I don't think music in films is the big thing only important thing is the good music , good poetry and good rendering, whether in films or outside films .
kane (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:1 IST)
There are complaints that your choice of ghazals, in terms of the quality of the poetry, has fallen drastically. Comment
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:5 IST)
Kane: It may be for you but I thing it carries a very good and meaningful thoughts. I can easily communicate with the audience.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:5 IST)
Mr Singh.. why don't you and Javed Akhtar get together for a film?. I am sure it will be great hearing Mr Akhtar's lyrics and your music...
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:6 IST)
Queen: Why are you after films it means you are a fan of films only. I'm already making an album with Javed Akhtar but not for films.
Raghupati Sahay (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:6 IST)
Thank you, Mr Singh. Tell me, what makes a good ghazal singer?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:8 IST)
Raghupati Sahay: Good education (academic) proper training in music, knowledge of Urdu and hard work.
Preeti (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:7 IST)
Hello Jagjitji, I am from Canada. It's great to speak with you. Are you going to perform in Canada in future?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:9 IST)
Preeti: I have just come back from USA and Canada , I had 39 concerts all over the States and Canada. Where were you then? Where do you live?
CRY (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:7 IST)
Jagjitji.. everybody agrees that there is music in the sound of Urdu itself. Is the tinkle of spoken Urdu the inspiration behind your compositions?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:10 IST)
CRY: No, there is music in every language, provided you should know how to speak and create music. Only the thought of the poetry inspires me whether its in Urdu, Hindi or Punjabi, because I know these languages very well.
Faiz ka Kalam (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:3 IST)
I loved your music in Arth. Why have you not composed more music for Hindi films? Is it because it there is too much of jhanjhat doing so?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:12 IST)
Faiz ka Kalam : Somebody should ask me to compose music for film and he should be able to make a good film like Arth, I cannot impose myself on film producers.
Raagini (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:13 IST)
Hello Jagjit ji! How did you get into this filmi chakkar? Your earlier ghazals were lovely... but are you guzzling too much that your voice quality and style seem slurred, just a teensy weensy bit?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:16 IST)
Raagini: I was never in the filmi chakkar, and I'm not a guzzler, I hope you know the meaning of guzzler? And there is nothing wrong working in films.
Queen (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:16 IST)
Mr Singh.. ok no more film questions. You will agree that the ghazal was meant to be sung in the Indian classical tradition. You were the first musician to have set Urdu poetry to tunes played by orchestras. Now orchestras are a Western concept. In the ghazals of the good old days a classical singer would perform with one or two accompanist. How do you feel about changing this age-old tradition all at once? Have you not hurt the sensibility of the connoisseurs?
Jagjit Singh (Thu Aug 7 1997 20:19 IST)
Queen: Tradition is not born and when you cannot improve on anything it becomes tradition. I hope you wear Indian dress, eat Indian food and use other Indian things. We are talking on Internet which is against the tradition of talking. After 50-60 years my style will be the traditional style. I hope you are there till then .
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