I'm yet to find identity in Bollywood: Abhijeet Sawant

By Shweta Thakur Jul 28, 2007, 15:40 GMT

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) Young singer Abhijeet Sawant says he copies well-known playbacks because he is yet to find his identity in Bollywood. He also justifies private albums, saying they are a platform for upcoming talent to showcase their versatility.

'These days albums are increasingly becoming a marketing tool for singers to showcase their talent,' Sawant, who shot to fame as the first 'Indian Idol', told IANS in an interview.

His second private album 'Junoon' has just hit the stalls.

'After my first album I started getting offers for only romantic songs. My next album is an effort to showcase my versatility to the big names in the industry so that they can take my voice for varied numbers,' he said.

The budding talent admits that he copies singers like Sonu Nigam and Kumar Sanu.

'Yes, I copy them as it is a learning phase for me. I am still searching for my identity in Bollywood. That is why I have not fixed my style as yet.

'When seasoned singers like Sonu Nigam and Kumar Sanu started their career they became famous because they sang like Rafi sahab and Kishore da respectively. Later when they established themselves in the industry they changed their style,' said Sawant.

Sawant's voice was widely appreciated in the film 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' and now he is all set to wow listeners in 'Mumbai.com' and 'Fire'.

The singer, who performed at a musical extravaganza organised by Big 92.7 FM, believes that radio as a medium of communication has been revitalised and will soon come at par with television.

'Radio is definitely becoming bigger and bigger. In the last couple of years, a humongous number of radio stations have come up. Today people buy less and listen more.

'The common man can approach the stars through the radio. It has a great future and I think some years down the line it will be as big as television.'

As the first winner of the 'Indian Idol' music talent hunt on TV, he made history in 2005. But Sawant agrees that boys dominate these shows and the audience vote is also affected by regionalism.

'In music talent hunts, girls have not been getting an equal chance. The audience vote is one of the reasons as women vote extensively for good looking male singers. To beat the boys, girls have to perform 10 percent better than them.

'Moreover, the audience is biased and votes for competitors belonging to its region, which is wrong.'

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service