Bollywood Artists On Not Getting Due Credit

One of the problems that seem to plague the film industry is the lack of due credit. It's a topic that came up during our conversations with lyricists, writers and singers. Below we list excerpts from our interviews with artists who threw some light on the subject.

Varun Grover (screenwriter, lyricist)

As a lyrics writer ek aur jaga zaleel hone ka mauka mil raha hai mujhe. If you go to YouTube and official channels of music companies putting out songs, they will give the names of the music director and singer in the video. Sometimes they put the name of the actor who is in that "song video". The video description will have the actor's name, the composer's and then the singer's. There is no lyrics writer's name! Sometimes dhundna padta hai neeche.

Another channel Eros, I think they have all their song videos. Raanjhanaa is on Eros. They have not given Irshad Kamil's name on any song video! It's the official channel of their own artists! And you're not even crediting them!

Saiwyn Quadras (screenwriter)

The first time I felt happy was for Shuddh Desi Romance. For the first time I saw "From the writers of Chak De India". That made me feel like maybe we are moving in the right direction.

Now when you see the trailers – I'm not saying that I've done successful films so my name has to come there. It adds to the audience's curiosity for the film, right? Sometimes the directors put "From the directors of X, Y, Z" when two films out of the three were horrible films. Why don't you put the writer's name on the theatrical trailer where people will see the name or remember the name. At the end of the day, that's the sort of validation you want. People will know who the writer of the film is.

Neha Bhasin (singer)

There's a lot that actors unknowingly take away from singers and kind of feed on it. Even the most serious of films need a good song by singer, music director and lyricist to promote the film. But what does the singer really get? Why don't people know what we look like? Why do I have to be a judge on a show to prove myself as a vocalist? You can be winning the Filmfares of the world and people will be like, "Oh, you sang that song." It shouldn't happen to the top singers of the country, right? 14 years in the business and people are still figuring you out. So where is it going wrong? It couldn't be me all the way, so it's the system where there is an imbalance and that's the problem with "play back" singing.

Pritam (music director)

Anupama Chopra: For Jonita Gandhi in 'Break Up Song' – Arijit (Singh) had only a little part in it but it came to be known as his song.

Pritam: That's the music company. I saw it for a Ranbir Kapoor song also, where YouTube said only 'Arijit Singh'. I called up that guy and I said why are you not mentioning the director or anybody else's name? I have always fought for this but the music company — they just want to create an ID when you search. But by that logic you are not giving respect to the people who have been at it. Jonita's name should be mentioned alongside.