Burnout or well planned: Experts weigh in on Arijit Singh's decision to quit playback singing at his peak

Popular stand up comedian Zakir Khan recently announced a multi-year break to focus on his health and singer Neha Kakkar wrote a cryptic post about stepping away from everything. So, somebody like Arijit is bound to be disillusioned and with him leaving playback, the music industry will definitely suffer, Vijaykar told PTI.

The music fraternity reacted with shock and empathy to the announcement by Arijit Singh that he was retiring from playback singing, a decision that has led to a wider conversation about emotional exhaustion, creative control and the price of staying at the top. Singh is perhaps one of the biggest names from the world of entertainment to call it quits right at his peak, but he is not the only one. Popular stand up comedian Zakir Khan recently announced a multi-year break to focus on his health and singer Neha Kakkar wrote a cryptic post about stepping away from everything. For many in the industry, these departures can't just be seen as a loss of ambition but a bid for survival. Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt believes the industry fails to prepare artists for the psychological toll of fame. ''Fame trains you to step into the arc lights, but it does not train you to live inside them. At the peak of success, the pressure to remain visible, relevant, and emotionally available becomes relentless. When applause replaces privacy and identity gets trapped in performance, withdrawal is often an act of survival, not weakness,'' he told PTI. Singh made the surprise announcement on Tuesday on his social media, stating that he was leaving his playback career behind. ''Hello. Happy New Year to all. I want to thank you all for giving me so much love all these years as listeners. I'm happy to announce that I am not going to take any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it quits. It was a wonderful journey,'' he wrote. There has been a lot of speculation about his next move. While some believe that he may be gearing up for a stint in politics, others have speculated that he will focus on an independent music career where there is a greater creative control. As someone whose voice captured the many moods of love and heartbreak in Hindi cinema, the 38-year-old singer's departure is a huge blow to the industry, music critic Rajiv Vijaykar said. ''Arijit delivered some of the best songs. Every other singer, whether it's Amit Mishra or Jubin Nautiyal, either sings like him or are made to sing like him. The time when a top singer can record three-five songs in a day is gone. If you are lucky, you get seven or eight songs in a year, unless you are Shreya Ghoshal or Arijit. ''So, somebody like Arijit is bound to be disillusioned and with him leaving playback, the music industry will definitely suffer,'' Vijaykar told PTI. Celebrity psychologist Akshara Damle, who has worked with a wide range of clients in showbiz to sports world, said burnout is quite common in performing artists. ''When work comes, it comes back-to-back; there is no pause between performances. Singers like Arijit or Neha or even performers like Zakir have to be at the top of their game every day. That kind of anxiety can easily lead to a burnout,'' Damle told PTI. Vijaykar believes the issue runs deeper than just personal fatigue and added that the industry is increasingly driven by market forces that favour manufactured songs designed for quick consumption over enduring artistry. ''In the 80s, even legends like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosale had restricted (singing) their songs. Not just because of their age but because they had similar issues. They wanted to reduce or quit but either they were not able to do so or not allowed to do so,'' he said, adding, the pressure is even more intense today due to social media. ''Likes, views and being on top of music streaming apps and all that indirectly is spoiling things. Passing popularity has become the mantra. Consumers are getting immune to good music. They are happy to listen to a song, which they can at a gym or while driving or dancing. Then after 15 days they listen to another song,'' Vijaykar said. Actor-psychologist Aditi Govitrikar said social media has added stress, something the older generations didn't have to deal with at all. ''People from the industry come to me to seek help. The biggest issue is relevance on social media. It's not like earlier times that you're established and it's okay. With social media you've to work at it constantly. You've to be aware of what's happening, what's trending, and all of that has added a lot of pressure,'' Govitrikar told PTI. From the brand and market point of view, some see a silver lining for Singh. Trade analyst Girish Wankhede said artists like Singh have nothing to lose as they've the privilege to redefine their careers outside the traditional ecosystem. ''Arijit doesn't need playback singing to survive. He'll continue as an independent artist. He's leaving the industry at the peak of his career, but I don't see any impact on his brand. Artists today earn significantly more from live shows and independent projects,'' Wankhede told PTI. While completely stepping away from one's career at the peak of popularity is rare, artists have often taken breaks for months and sometimes years to recharge themselves. After the failure of his last few movies, Shah Rukh Khan took a break from acting for over four years and returned with not just one hit but three in 2023. Aamir Khan for years now has limited his work assignments to focus on quality and most recently Bhumi Pednekar took a short sabbatical of almost 10 months. Explaining the reason behind the break, Pednekar said she felt she needed a pause. ''It was ten years of work. I didn't have a pause. I'm an artist, not a factory and I think we forget that. My job is to give my best. I made the best decision of my life. I felt like if I needed longevity for the next two decades, I had to take those months off,'' the actor, who is back and promoting her new show ''Daldal'', told PTI. Bhatt is already retired from direction and firmly believes that stepping away from the spotlight can be restorative. ''It's not that when you are away from arch lights, you will perish. I'm not an active filmmaker but I'm connected to the movie business, mentoring people. I remember when I gave up (direction) and getting out of movies, I was not stepping out of life, it's stepping into life,'' he said. Singh's decision to step away from playback music underscores a fragile truth -- behind every chart-topping song or viral reel lies a person grappling with the weight of expectation.

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