Adnan Sami: Art is not toothpaste you use and spit out, I am against reducing art to data

Toothpaste is how singer Adnan Sami feels music is being treated today. Similar songs being churned out back to back in the name of hits and the number of views on a song becoming a benchmark of success are things he is miffed by, to say the least.

Sami, who is busy with a new set of singles and live shows, tells us, “I have to enjoy what I am doing, that’s why I am choosy about what I do. I’m very passionately against the concept of reducing the art of music or cinema to something as crass as just data. It’s art. You can’t equate it to, say, a soap, and be like, ‘Okay, jasmine is working, let’s make more of that’. That’s exactly what’s going on. South ki filmein chal rahi hain, toh South ki films banao. Comedy chal raha hai, comedy banao… Art is not toothpaste that you use and spit out.”

The Padma Shri awardee, 51, adds that the quest to hit a certain number of views on a song is one of the things that has curbed creativity, which has led to a dearth of meaningful songs. “We have an audience thirsty for entertainment. If you start distributing sh*t to them… It’s like making them starve and then giving them a dry piece of celery. Log toh toot padenge na uspe? If you give them biryani, they will never look at celery!” he reasons.

Citing the examples of filmmakers Christopher Nolan, Yash Chopra and music composer RD Burman, he goes on to say, “Whatever they made, they made well. In today’s time, executives and music companies have discovered a new toy — data. It’s there for guidance, don’t let it dictate you.”

“Executives are not artistes. In the past, they would not argue with creative decisions. Now, they have stumbled upon something they can have a counter argument with. That’s why ultimately, we are not coming out with stuff that has any kind of long-term impact. Everybody needs to be allowed to do their jobs. Don’t interfere, and certainly not in the name of data,” the Lift Kara De singer concludes.