LAHORE:
Following her performance in “Coke Studio” season four, singer Komal Rizvi left the audiences in the subcontinent mesmerised with her edgy vocals and ultimately landed her a record deal in India.
In a recent interview with The Express Tribune, she reveals that her next album, Komal, will be releasing November 28 in India. She also plans to return to Pakistan in the near future and release a single called “Jhulay Lal” for her devoted fans.
“We wanted the album to have a certain direction,” says Rizvi, commenting on her latest project. “The sound falls more in the Sufi-folk genre but it also has a bit of a filmy touch to it.” The album contains eight songs and three singles, which will further accompany the album. Following her “Coke Studio” fame, she instantly received an offer from Saregama HMV, one of the biggest record labels in India, to record an album.
With her new album, Rizvi says she has focused on making music she likes. “At the end of the day, music is something which is very personal and I feel everyone has their own preferences,” she says. “This will actually reflect in every song of my album and all I can say is that, it’s from the heart.” Through her music, she wants to show her fans the different sides to her personality. “It’s not necessarily serious music. Some of the songs are and some aren’t — they show different shades of me.”
Commenting on the non-film music scene in India, she says it’s rather unexplored and small in size. However on a more positive note, there are a lot of musicians and singers experimenting in that field regardless. “The film industry is huge, so musicians can afford to experiment with non-Bollywood music and they won’t end up dying of hunger,” she says. While she admits Bollywood is extremely competitive when it comes to playback singers, people are still quite welcoming and as a result, she has signed some projects. “It’s still premature to go into the details of these projects — at least till the films’ release dates are announced,” she reveals.
Rizvi feels India has a more welcoming and positive environment as compared to Pakistan on several levels. “The circumstances in Pakistan’s music industry are quite unstable and therefore even the inexperienced and rather new artists, are not cooperative or friendly,” she admits, adding that this is a result of the insecurity amongst artists in the industry. However, there is a bright side to this as well as she says, “The advantage of being an independent singer here [in Pakistan] is that you can experiment a lot — you don’t have to be stuck with one specific sound.” She enjoys all kinds of genres whether it’s R&B, folk, soul or rock.
As far as exploring other options in her career are concerned, Rizvi says she is interested in acting as well as she has tried her luck at it in the past. “I have thought about it. I was offered a couple of films and a horror TV show as well, but for now I have decided not to do it,” she says. “The reason is, I want to wait till I get a good script — a film with substance. I don’t want to do the family-drama sort of films.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2012.
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COMMENTS (13)
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i find it really quite un necessary and wrong for people to start picking on young pakistani artists. sure any statement can be argued upon but there really is no need to get personal and demeaning . i can bet none of you have ever heard komal actually sing other than once on tv. komal rizvi is an extremely talented young lady with lovely voice quality and great range, she is also an amazing performer and knows how to hold the crowed. carry on the good work komal, we wish you every success, both in and out of pakistan.
duh nobody cares !! we all know that she's a flop artist
I dont know if she is wrong about her comments on indian music scene. But FYI for those who don't know, she spent years in India as vj for MTV india and V channel in the 90's.
@gp65:
Indian Non-film music scene has quite depth. We have folks like Raghu Dixit in Bangalore who have been largely thriving in alternative music scenario striking it quite rich. More importantly the classical and folk singers too are making comfortable living. Top tier musicians earn big bucks running in to crores.
The trouble is, it pales in comparison to what the cine artists make. So, most assume alternative music scene isn't very good. Top flight playback singers for movies have multiple avenues of income. Stage Shows, TV shows, even celebrity endorsements & events.
Someone like Shreya Ghoshal was listed as one of the top payers of Income Tax in Mumbai (the richest of our cities). But, she had in an interview said most of her income comes from Stage performances, shows and appearances.
Singing for films brings them name, but the actual money is in non-film work.
Shes pretty. I would totally be into sufi music if it was sung by women who looked like her :)
@Jimmy: Just like you indians have no idea when you are talking about pakistan, in any aspect. i would say a lot more but its really not worth it!
@ jimmy Exactly bro. Yet Ure so obsessed with th website of that nation n would comment on every freaking post. U have lots of time :)
She is very good singer>>>>Khalid Hameed Farooqi>>>> GEO news>>>> Brrrrrrrussles..!!!
@gp65: Thats the problem with many Pakistanis-their knowledge of India is around islam and they know soo little about India. I would not blame their breadth of understanding-which nation in middle east is any better?
Komal you don't even come close to many legendary singer in past nor to the rising stars of today! Your music lacks substance, only thing that made people interested in you were your looks but that too no the case. So thank you if you decide not to produce music anymore.
"Commenting on the non-film music scene in India, she says it’s rather unexplored and small in size"
Obviously she knows little about the music scene in India if she says that. Whether Hindustani classical music, Carnatic classical music, bhajans, jain stavans, folk music (garba, laavani, bhangra), light music e.g. Rabindra sangeet the music scene in India is thriving. The fact that this person feels competent to make statements about Indian music industry based on one trip to India to record a few songs - is strange.