"Present Bollywood songs are like fast-food"

Jamshedpur: Indian playback singer Alka Yagnik says that the current songs in Bollywood are like "fast food" and the playback singers of the melodious era will not like it.

"The songs of the present era are like fast food... They have failed to establish strong identity like the songs of the 1980s and 1990s and are forgotten within a short span of time," Alka said.

The seven-time winner of Indian Filmfare awards for best playback female singer and two-time recipient of the National Film award, said the playback singers of the melodious era will not like the recent trend of songs in Bollywood.

She, however, expressed optimism that the era of melody would return and said changes take place in playback singing just as in all spheres of society.

Yagnik regretted that the importance of music in modern cinema was waning. In the past the films were being based on music.

Talking about the trend of reality TV shows in India, Yagnik said she likes taking part in reality shows for children.

"Reality shows provide us an opportunity to share our knowledge with children having (musical) talent," said Alka, who is judging the Bangla version of reality TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

She said that unlike the present day reality shows which provide participants with mentors, playback singers of her era did not have that opportunity to learn from their seniors in the profession.