Veteran Bollywood music composer and producer Abhijit Vaghani has come out in support of artificial intelligence in music production, arguing that AI tools spare composers the uncomfortable task of rejecting established singers — and ultimately ensure more songs reach listeners. Vaghani, who has spent 27 years shaping the sound of Hindi cinema, shared his perspective during a conversation at his studio in Andheri West, Mumbai.

The Singer Rejection Problem AI Solves

Vaghani described a recurring pain point in the industry: the delicate, often awkward moment when a music director must tell a prominent playback singer that their voice does not suit a particular track. 'Earlier, I remember that there was once when we had called — I wouldn't name the singer, but a really big singer — to sing one of the songs,' he said. 'Imagine telling that big singer, whoever had come, the music director sitting there, and he has to have a call with the singer stating the fact that, "Hey, listen, your voice is not fitting the bill." I can't even put it on the producer.'

He argued that AI now changes that calculus entirely. 'In today's day with AI, I can actually judge that by doing it through AI. So, I don't have to answer to anyone. And everyone gets to hear that song,' Vaghani explained. The implication is significant: AI-assisted demos allow composers to make voice-fit decisions before human egos — and professional relationships — are put on the line.

Scratch Singing and Studio Logistics

Beyond the politics of rejection, Vaghani also flagged a more practical bottleneck — scratch singing. In the traditional workflow, a scratch singer must travel to the studio to record a guide vocal, a process complicated further by the linguistic demands of Hindi lyrics. 'The singer has to come to the studio for a session. Although in Hindi language, inclusion of certain words is very difficult, so you have to either make peace with it or call the scratch singer,' he noted. AI-generated scratch vocals, he suggested, can sidestep both the scheduling and the linguistic friction.

Vaghani's Genre-Agnostic Approach

Separately, the composer has spoken about his philosophy toward musical genres — one that may partly explain his openness to new tools. Vaghani has said he maintains no single go-to genre, keeping his personal playlist deliberately eclectic. 'My playlist is also mixed with everything possible. It also has different unnamed artistes — I don't even know some of their names because I enjoy listening to so many different genres and artistes that I get lost in that discovery of music and artistes,' he said.

He linked this wide-ranging listening habit directly to his craft. 'In Bollywood, in every situation, everyone's tempo, scale, everything is different. And to select a certain genre for it, we have to go through a lot of genres,' he added. This genre-fluid sensibility, he suggested, is both a professional necessity and a personal instinct honed over nearly three decades in the industry.

Broader Context: AI's Growing Role in Bollywood Music

Vaghani's comments reflect a wider shift in the Hindi film music ecosystem, where AI tools are increasingly being used for voice synthesis, scratch recordings, and even melody generation. The debate around AI in Indian music has intensified in 2024–25, with some artists welcoming the efficiency gains and others raising concerns about creative authenticity and the displacement of session musicians and scratch singers. Notably, Vaghani's framing centres on AI as a diplomatic and logistical tool rather than a creative replacement — a distinction that may resonate with producers navigating the industry's complex hierarchy of talent and relationships.

As AI adoption deepens across Bollywood's production pipeline, voices like Vaghani's — grounded in decades of hands-on experience — are likely to shape how the industry calibrates the balance between technology and human artistry.