NEWS

NY Times elucidates the meaning of 'So-Called' on Lata-Sachin controversy

3rd June 2016

The Tanmay Bhat's video spoofing controversy on Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar is getting murkier with each passing day. Everyday some or the other comes in support of the either party. The video got special recognition in the New York Times. But it was criticized later as it mentioned the legendary singer as "so called."

Ellen Barry, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, explained in a tweet: "A note on 'so-called': Used here for non-Indian readers unfamiliar with the term 'playback singer'. In no way a commentary."  Here he is trying to say that the non-indian readers does not understand the meaning of 'playback singer' and hence they used the word "so called."

The earlier report which was published read, "In the expletive-laced video, which was created on Snapchat, Mr Bhat uses that app's face-swap feature to impersonate Sachin Tendulkar, a hugely popular cricketer who retired in 2013, and Lata Mangeshkar, a so-called playback singer for Bollywood films whose career dates to the 1940s. Playback singers record vocals for song-and-dance numbers, to which actors and actresses lip sync,"

It was only after Indian media prompted to the New York Times that they should have used the word rightly.

Tags: Lata Mangeshkar,