'Patriarchal': Shreya Ghoshal on gender disparity in Indian music
What's the story
Acclaimed playback singer Shreya Ghoshal recently expressed her views on the underrepresentation of female singers in India. Speaking on Raj Shamani's podcast, she talked about the difference in the Indian and Western music industries, where leading artists like Taylor Swift and Rihanna are women. "Fact is India thoda sa patriarchal hain. Aaj bhi (India is patriarchal, even today)," she said, stressing that this disparity wasn't always the case in India.
Gender disparity
'It is that lopsided'
Ghoshal further elaborated on the gender disparity in the Indian music industry. "Leave concerts, see number of songs on charts. Tell me how many songs are there which are sung by females! I don't find," she said. "Top 50 mein 6-7 honge (There will be only six to seven female singers in the top 50). It is that lopsided." She added that this imbalance has emerged recently and wasn't always present in India.
Past dominance
Ghoshal on past female dominance
Ghoshal reminisced about a time when female playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle were at the forefront of the industry. "Look at the generation of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and how they commanded that era... they were bigger than all the other male singers," she said. "The number of songs that they had, per year. That has changed; there is a lot of dilution, and I feel we are going through something."
Career highlights
Looking at Ghoshal's career
Ghoshal started her playback singing career with the film Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Her song Bairi Piya earned her a National Award for Best Female Playback Singer. She has since sung in various languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. Recently, she collaborated with composer Amaal Mallik on the song Yahin Guzaar Doon featuring Farrhana Bhatt in the video.