MUMBAI: Bollywood’s renowned singer and music composer Shekhar Ravjiani, known for chartbusters like ‘Tujhe Bhula Diya’ and ‘Bin Tere’, recently shared his thoughts on the evolving music industry during a conversation with host Akkshay Rathie on India TV’s podcast ‘The Filmy Hustle’.
Speaking about the increasing influence of technology, AI, and auto-tune in music, Shekhar said, “I recently came across songs where the voices of legends like Kishore Da and Jagjit Singh ji were recreated using AI. It felt surreal to hear them, but at the same time, I realized that while AI can replicate voices, it can never truly capture emotions. Art is rooted in emotion, and no machine can replicate the soul an artist brings to a song. AI can certainly simplify processes, but writing and composing music will always remain deeply human endeavors.”
When asked about the use of the voices of late singers, Shekhar expressed, “As a filmmaker or composer, you have the creative freedom to choose the voice that best fits your vision. However, I believe there should be laws regulating auto-tune and AI-generated vocals. Without them, there’s potential for misuse.”
He further explained, “Imagine if a song in my voice was released tomorrow — a song I had once declined to sing — I would not be comfortable with it. Artists deserve protection in such cases. No computer, no matter how advanced, can replace the emotional connection a singer brings. True music stems from feeling — from pain, from joy, from human experience — and AI simply cannot replicate that.”
