Singers should get paid, maybe a little, for recording a scratch: Jyotica Tangri [Exclusive]

Singer Jyotica Tangri, who shot to fame in Bollywood with Pallo Latke song from Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, has started becoming a household name and her deliverance of one hit after another has put her on the wishlist of many music composers and various music labels wanting to collaborate with her.

She recently came out with two new tracks Patola Lagdi (with Kaptan Laadi and RDK under Zee Music label) and Kuchh Toh Hai (with Yasser Desai produced by Ajay Jaiswal under Zee Music Label) in the last two weeks. She has sung for movies like Behan Hogi Teri, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, Fukrey Returns and Saif Ali Khan's Bazaar.

Along with her recent hits, Jyotica Tangri is all set to give out more such songs and has exciting new ventures coming her way but refused to talk much about them.

In an exclusive interview with International Business Times India, Jyotica spoke about her accomplishments, her journey, pay disparity and need of more female composers in the music industry, why recreation of songs is good and why she doesn't sing for remuneration.

You seem to have started appearing on the wishlist of music directors after delivering back-to-back hit songs. Do you feel accomplished?

It feels really amazing that so many music composers want me to sing and they feel that I can do justice to their songs. I feel really honoured and feeling accomplished is not a final destination. I can feel it for sometime for a week maybe for a month but then its fleeting.

From becoming saregama finalist to establishing yourself as a playback singer, tell us how has your journey been so far.

Well, my journey so far has been really vey beautiful. It definitely has been full of ups and downs but that's ok. That's what makes my life really interesting. And SaReGaMaPa has really been turning point of my life because I got fame and face value from the show. And it was one of my dreams to be on that stage. So it's definitely really special for me. And after SaReGaMaPa, I started recording scratches for so many composers and I got to learn a lot from them. And then one of my scratches got finalised one day and so I became a playback singer. I think its really beautiful.

Tell us how singing happened to you.

Okay, so my mumma is a really good singer. She really likes music and she used to perform in her college time. So I think I got that melody and voice from her maybe and then my guruji, a lot of credit goes to him. I met him when I was 6 years old and I started learning music and I have learned music for 15 years and I am a classical trainer singer. So I think all these things and my family is really supportive. So this is how I started thinking of becoming a singer one day. So here I am.

Do you feel the need of having more female music composers in Bollywood since it's a male dominated Industry.

I feel that female music composers have a lot of potential. I have worked with some of female music composers like Samira Koppikar and Rachita Arora. Rachita Arora has composed a song called Labo Se Chhu Kar from Sacred Games and that's such a phenomenal song. So many people come after me you know, they praise me, tell me that this song is so fantastic. So I guess yes, there's a lot of talent and female composers should come up more often.

Many playback singers especially female have complained about the pay disparity in the music industry. What's your take on it.

I guess pay disparity is there in the industry but its changing now. There are so many people who get less paid for the same work which the male is doing but the money that's been given is lesser than what males are getting. So I think that is definitely not fair because the amount of hardwork we put in is same. So the pay should also be the same.

Have you ever got treated badly as a newcomer.

I've been lucky in that case because when I shifted to Mumbai, I met a lot of really nice kind people and got really nice opportunities to work with amazing people. So that was not the case with me. But I think that (I'm saying it generally) if a composer or somebody calls you to record a scratch, I think the singer should be paid. Maybe a little but they should get paid.

AR Rahman recently said that the trend of recreating retro songs in the industry is nothing but a shortcut to creativity for artistes. And there's no denying that it instantly shots You to fame. You too got your first recognition with the recreated version of pallo latke. Can we say that Rahman's words have fallen right in your case?

First of all, I really respect Rahman sir and whatever he has said definitely means something. But my take on recreation of songs is little different because not I sung Pallo Latke but it's actually really clinged a lot of people and they love the song. But I think it's somewhere not that bad to create songs, it's actually good because Pallo Latke is definitely a popular folk song and most of the people have already heard it before this one came up from Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. But I guess people of my age or the generations coming up, they wouldn't know about that song which used to be there, which is really beautiful. But we have to accept the change and keep upgrading our music and everything with it. So I think if people are liking this version of Pallo Latke, then it has something good in it and maybe it goes with the minds of the listeners. They are listening to it and helps rejuvenate the value of the old songs which we are using and recreating.

Have you ever sung for a hefty remuneration.

I usually do not sing for remuneration because that's a little sad part of my job because I do not get paid hefty remuneration for my songs. That's one thing. But not that I want to do that. I choose my songs on the basis of the quality of the song. If the song is really good and I want to sing it, I'll sing it anyway. And there are so many good artistes who aspire to be in the industry and if they tell me to collaborate with them and sing a song for them, I definitely do them.

Lastly, have you ever felt insecure looking at the competition around you.

Well, insecurity is a word which I really don't think I relate to it because there's no room for insecurity in my life. My work and my job is to keep singing. That's what I've been doing since I was a child. So I just keep doing my work and keep delivering my best and that's what keeps me up. So I'm really happy and really satisfied with whatever I'm getting right now and whatever I have plans for future. So that's it.