Bollywood not obligated to absorb TV talent: Babul Supriyo

Playback singer Babul Supriyo says the film industry is under no obligation to create space for the winners of TV reality shows.

"According to me, TV and film industries are completely different. The film industry is not obligated to absorb the talent which comes out of the TV industry," he told.

"Nowadays, reality shows provide newcomers with a great platform to showcase their talents. I think that there are great singers, but there should be no pressure on them that just because they win a reality show, they will become a famous playback singer," he added.

He feels that the newcomers should focus on their skills rather fame.

"It is good if you become famous, but it is important that you should be a good singer as well. If you have become famous and your singing has some shortcomings, you should work on that. It is more important to become a good singer than a famous one. Nowadays there are so many famous singers who can hardly sing," he added.

Originally from Kolkata, he left a well-settled job there and moved to Mumbai in 1991 to try his luck in singing.

Supriyo has been in the music industry for about two decades now and feels that Bollywood music has changed greatly as genres like ghazals and indipop have almost vanished and hip hop tracks are dominating the scene.

"Hip hop has completely taken over. Hip hop music suffocates melodious singers. But I just hope that the trend changes," said the singer who feels that melodies will make a come back.

"Instruments have taken over, but this does not mean that melody should be neglected. Nowadays, Sufiana trend is in, people sing on high notes and on the top of their voices. But this will also change and melodious songs will come back," he said.

He has recently collaborated with Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan, Alka Yagnik, Javed Ali and Neha Bhasin for ablum "Love Is In The Air". The soundtrack is not a compilation, it consists of six fresh love songs by the singers.

He believes that the album will work better than a solo album.

"I don't think a solo album by any artist is possible at this point of time because neither TV channels are interested nor radio channels in them. The solo album market does not exist anymore. This is why we have tried an album of singles. Singles work," he said.