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Mental health: A focus on children
Singer Sonu Nigam recently put out a vlog where he was seen talking about favouritism in the music fraternity and also called out the “music mafias”. Now, Salim Merchant from the composer duo Salim-Sulaiman, has come out saying that he agrees with what Nigam says.
“It is not just the singers, the composers are also going through a tough time. The record labels he is talking about has certain music directors and singers they work with. There are certain artistes they have signed. There is definitely that favouritism,” he says.
Throwing more light on the topic, he shares, “There are a lot of composers like me, who don’t want to do just one song in a film. But there are others who are comfortable with the record label’s terms and conditions. Whatever Sonu has said is the truth. There are singers who get called and get dumped later on. There are so many directors who want to work with us, but when it reaches the record labels, they have their own conditions.”
Ask him if they’ve ever been asked to change any singer,
The Covid-19 crisis has not just taken a toll on our physical health, but also affected our mental health. Meanwhile, what also shocked many is how Sushant Singh Rajput’s death led to four minors ending their lives, putting the focus back on mental health of kids.
Gurdip Punjj, who has two children Meher (10) and Mahir (5) shares, “Meher cried when she came to know about it. Later, she asked me why do people do this?”
Punjj adds, “I told her that and he says, “No, we haven’t. However, we’ve got feedbacks from directors and producers to try another singer. And we tried, but it has been done respectfully. These decisions have been taken mutually. For instance, for Ainvayi Ainvayi (Band Baaja Baaraat; 2010), we had recorded with Master Saleem, who has a folk touch in his voice. And Aditya Chopra wanted a lighter voice for Ranveer Singh, so we tried my voice. But this decision was mutual. Yet, we kept Master Saleem’s name in the credits.”
He points out that the creative process getting hampered is just one level, but there is more to it. Sharing a personal experience, he says, “Sulaiman and I had worked on a project with a new director. The music turned out to be so good that it helped them get a really big actor on board. Then the director took it to a big production house/record company, and the label said, ‘we love the film, but please change the composers’. They have some personal vendetta against us, I don’t know why. It is about time that people find about it.” it’s important to be with your family. She has been sleeping with me these days and our night conversations are the best when she opens up a lot.”
Ashish Chowdhry who’s raising his kids Agasthya (10), Salara and Sammah (both 5), and his late sister Monica and brother-in-law Ajit’s (who died in 26/11 Mumbai attacks) kids Kanishq (21) and Ananya (17), agrees.
He says, “We need to talk to them often, answer their queries even if they’re simple questions. Also, it’s important to maintain that equilibrium between being friends with your children and being strict.”
Juhi Parmar says, “In school, why do we teach our children only about achievers? Why not about those who tried hard but failed? When we play games, Samairra (7) always wants to win. I told her that if she wins, good, if she doesn’t, even after trying hard, she’s still a winner.”
Indraneil Sengupta says they keep daughter Meera (8) away from showbiz. “We want to bring her up like any other child. She has limited screen time. No social media for her.”
Sengupta shares one day Meera said that her school friends feel her parents are millionaires. “Children think like that about actors. So, Barkha explained to her that we aren’t rich. While we tell her when to study, we also let her be, but of course we know what she’s doing. There’s no formula for parenting, you learn it on the job,” he ends.
Kavita Awaasthi
During the last week, conversations on social media have been mostly around actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. And this affected Rajat Barmecha so much that he remained off social media for a few days.
He says, “I was hearing so much about nepotism, insider vs outsider, mental health struggles. And no matter how much you try, it affects you. More so, as I am an actor and a art of the industry, if I asn’t, maybe it wouldn’t ffect me so much. You hink about what he went hrough and what you went through, career choices, trajectory etc. and compare similar experiences.”
Barmecha penned a poem that is dedicated to artistes and “people who feel caged”. He wrote,
The actor adds that like Rajput, he, too, isn’t from a film family. “I feel I’m lucky as there are many aspiring actors who are vying for a big break and are affected by his death emotionally and mentally. I wrote the poem for all the artistes out there to tell them, don’t let people tell you that you are any less,” he says.