It's time indie musicians co-existed with Bollywood: Kavita Krishnamurthy

Veteran playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy says it is about time that the music industry opened up to independent artistes as much as it supports mainstream Bollywood singers.

The 60-year-old singer, who has been active for over four decades, says the audience needs to take a listen to different kinds of music.

"I feel it is time that independent musicians should also survive along with Bollywood. Because it is only Bollywood that becomes the surviving profession. And it's believed that only those who break into Bollywood will survive.

"This becomes very difficult for other musicians to make a mark. I think the audiences in India now have to open up and listen to different kinds of music and encourage any body who is making music, whether they are from Bollywood or not," Krishnamurthy told PTI in a telephonic interview.

The singer, who has chartbusters such as "Hawa hawaaii", "Dil diya hai jaan bhi denge", "Tu hee re", "Albela sajan" and "Maar daala", among others to her credit, says though there is no dearth of talent in the country, there are few songs today that have the ability to turn into classics.

"So many talented and innovative musicians are coming up. But I wish there were more ragas involved in the songs. Sometimes I find the lyrics don't touch my heart. But as far as talent is concerned, I think the younger generation is very talented and open to a lot of cultures. They try to create a different type of music after listening and mixing lots of elements. A lot of people are doing independent music.

"It is so hard what they are trying to do. They are presenting themselves to various social media platforms. It is not easy to promote yourself. I think in their own way they are trying to make a mark for themselves. It is tricky stuff, but they are doing it and very well."

Krishnamurthy is set to perform at the 27th edition of Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival, a music extravaganza in the memory of her father-in-law guru professor V Lakshminarayana.

The festival was established in 1992 by violin icon L Subramaniam, Krishnamurthy's husband and Viji Subramaniam.

This year Latvian Symphony Orchestra will be part of the line-up.

"It will be featuring very special composition. My husband wrote for India's 70th Independence Day celebration called the Bharat Symphony. It has got four movements.-- Vedic, Mughal, British and fourth is on the themes of Satyamev Jayate and Vasudhev Kutumbhkam.

"I do the Bharat Symphony with the orchestra and my husband does the piece called 'Turbulence Concerto' with the orchestra. Even my granddaughter Mahati will be doing a tribute piece on Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birthday celebrations," she said.

The singer said organising a festival which celebrates global music is a difficult job.

"There are different artistes from across the globe. We have got the best of the best from all around the world. We have put this up together as a family and with the help of few of our friends.

"We have been doing this for 27 years, it's not easy. It is so much easier to promote a Bollywood music festival. This is difficult," she said.

Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival will have its last show in New Delhi on Friday.