Universal Music India recently marked its return to film music with the release of the soundtracks to the Hindi movies Param Sundari<\/em>, Songs of Paradise <\/em>and Ufff Yeh Siyapaa, <\/em>but it also has a vast catalogue of iconic Bollywood OSTs. In July, it began reissuing some of these on vinyl via a licensing agreement with physical music distributor Basking Shark. With the launch of a new web series, it\u2019s doubling down on its effort to revive the repertoire. The short Hindi-language weekly show Ek Aur Baar Kishore Kumar<\/em> reworks 11 of legendary Hindi film actor and singer Kishore Kumar\u2019s greatest hits across 11 episodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reworkings retain Kumar\u2019s vocals, which have been extracted from the original recordings using \u201cmodern technology\u201d, and merge them with the freshly recorded contributions of current stars, to create virtual duets composed by veteran Indian music industry professional and Hindi film music director Shamir Tandon. Additional lyrics have been tacked on to the tunes to \u201ccontextualise them for a new generation\u201d, says the press note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before anybody raises their AI-brows, they should know that Kumar\u2019s son, singer Amit Kumar, was consulted during the entire process. The tracks that have been released since the series\u2019 premiere in August include \u2018Saagar Kinare\u2019 from Saagar<\/em> (1985), with Rajasthani folk star Mame Khan; \u2018Jaane Jaan\u2019 from Jawani Diwani <\/em>(1972), with Amit Kumar and Punjabi folk specialist Harshdeep Kaur; and \u2018Aisa Kabhie Hua Nahin\u2019 from Yeh Vaada Raha <\/em>(1982), with playback and pop singer Neeti Mohan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n \u201cThese songs are a gateway to take the most passionate Kishore Kumar\u2019s fans back into his golden world. And at the same time, introduce a brand new generation to the voice of India\u2019s true singing legend.\u201d says Universal. The label is also taking the IP offline, through the Fan Social series of events that it organises at and in association with the Social chain of restaurants and bars. Five Ek Aur Baar Kishore Kumar <\/em>karaoke nights will be held between September 22-28 at Social outposts in Gurugram, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Indore and Pune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that several Kishore Kumar classics are evergreen favourites that continue to be covered at concerts by contemporary acts and at countless tribute shows\u2014including those by Amit Kumar\u2014that draw thousands of attendees across the country, and on reality TV singing talent contests, perhaps the true test of Universal\u2019s experiment will be how the reinterpretations perform on DSPs where the audience skews younger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, it\u2019s an innovative way of repurposing a catalogue that\u2019s known to millions but is perhaps yet to be discovered by segments of Gen-Z and Gen Alpha.<\/p>\n\n