The difference in the last few years, say singers, has been the influence of international music on film music. “The younger lot of music directors is looking for a different sound. They use elements of rock, hip-hop and world music, for which they need a new kind of voice,” says Rao. “Music directors are blending Indian melodies with western styles, and that explains the comfortable accommodation of deep female voices,” says Bhardwaj, who is lending her voice for the soundtracks of forthcoming films like My Father Gandhi, Laga Chunari Mein Daag and Gulaal. Her private album Ishqa Ishqa, a collection of Sufi songs written by Gulzar, was released four years ago to critical acclaim.

But it’s not that Hindi film music has never strayed beyond the archetype. In Umrao Jaan (1981), Khayyam got Asha Bhosle to sing two notes lower than her usual pitch. The result was musical history. When Lata made her debut in the 1940s, her thin, high-pitched voice was the odd one out. The reigning singers were Noorjehan, Shamshad Begum and Zohra Ambala, women with robust voices. That tradition soon died out.

Vishal Dadlani of the Vishal-Shekhar music director duo (Golmaal, Bluffmaster and Taxi Number 9211) says his natural inclination is for the huskier voice. Ehsaan Noorani of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio agrees. “Our preference is for a medium-pitched kind of tone that is much warmer. What is important is the right emotion must be conveyed.” The team’s hits prove as much—It’s the time to disco (Vasundhara Das in Kal ho Na Ho), Saaiyan Re (Salaam-E-Ishq). Again, in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, they have used Vasundhara, Alisha and Sunidhi, all women with full-bodied voices.

... contd.