Ghagra
and
Choli Ke Peeche
were earlier used this year in
Crew
, but they weren’t recorded fresh. As we sit down for a quick chat with Ila, we ask her why she has stayed away from singing in Hindi movies, she replies, “You have not heard me in Bollywood because Bollywood is a place where trends rule. But the best thing is that even if I am not singing, they are recreating my songs! Like in the recently released
Crew
, you might have heard
Choli ke Peeche
by Diljit Dosanjh.He is such a popular singer and he sang
Choli ke Peeche
with my original voice. That just goes to show the old and the beautiful things never die. They are timeless. So, I am still in the heart of fans, young and old. In between, I have doing theatre, and writing among other things like composing for my own album. So there’s a lot of work for me to keep busy with.”
Ila recently collaborated with her son-in-law for a 10-track world music album
Voyage 2.
Ila, 70, who has been making music since 1979, also laments about the current music scenario. She shares, “I am not here to criticise anybody. (But) The easiest way to ‘make’ music today is to remix. Today an even more dangerous phenomenon is AI (artificial intelligence), so maybe now they don’t even need the genius of music composers or the talent of voices. All voices have their charisma. With AI you don’t need anyone, which I feel is a dangerous thing. Creatively, I don’t think the state of music is very pleasant. Everyone is a musician today. Anyone who can play an instrument, has access to software, is a composer. But to be a composer you need 24 hours involvement.”