Piracy makes big dent in revenue: Jagjit Singh

Ahmedabad, Sep 13 (UNI) Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh has said piracy had made a big dent in the fortunes of Bollywood and it could ring in the death-knell for the entertainment industry if not curbed in time.

'Piracy of music, movies and other entertainment programmes had badly affected the entertainment business', he lamented yesterday.

Mr Singh was critical of TV channels that mint money in the name of 'Talent Hunts' in which public vote through SMS to judge the singer's ability and talent which is not a perfect tool.

He was speaking at a function wherein Big Music, a Reliance ADAG Venture, launched Singh's first Gujarati ghazal album titled ''Jeevan Maran Chhe Ek'' here.

Yet another masterpiece from the Ghazal King, the album takes listeners on a voyage of emotions, beautifully crafted melodies, set to lyrics of late ghazal writer Abbas V Vasi 'Mareez', making it a must for music lovers.

Mr Singh said ''Mareez is the Ghalib of Gujarati poetry and it is an honour composing and singing his poetry.'' The Ghazal maestro said with the launch of his maiden Gujarati Ghazal album, his journey into the Indian entertainment industry has come to a full circle as he began his journey with the first Gujarati Bhajan in vernacular language film 'Bahoo Roopi' in 1966.

The 8 melodious tracks in the album have been composed and sung by Jagjit Singh with the underlying theme of 'Love&Peace.' UNI