Topchanchi-based Khortha lyricist and script writer Vinay Tiwari (41), who has more than two dozen hit music albums and a movie to his credit, is peeved at the attitude of the authorities towards indigenous art and artistes of Jharkhand.
Tiwari, who was awarded with Sanskritik Samman for his contribution towards the promotion of Khortha music by state sports and art and culture minister Amar Kumar Bauri on March 21, said the state film policy, announced by the government in December last year with a lot of sops for films shot in Jharkhand and promises of setting up a film city and processing labs, had little to offer to local people with a creative bent of mind like him.
"Any policy aimed at promoting art and film of Jharkhand should be drafted in consultation with local artistes and writers, who are working for years to carry forward the cultural legacy of the state," said Tiwari, who writes in Khortha, a dialect of Maithili, spoken in at least 13 districts of Jharkhand.
The lyricist, who was also felicitated by former land revenue minister Mathura Prasad Mahto in 2011, rued that local artistes continued to suffer in the absence of enough support from the government.
"We feel neglected... even after working more than two decades for the promotion of Khortha music, I don't have any permanent source of income. I can hardly earn enough for my family (including his wife and two children) and lead a decent life. I cannot even study expenses of my two children," he rued.
His two children Raj Ranjan Tiwari studies in Class V and Rudra Pratap Tiwari in Class III at St Thomas School in Topchanchi.
"Local artistes and art cannot grow without support from the government. Jharkhand has a rich cultural legacy and it should nurtured for art and culture are the identity of any state," Tiwari, an Economics graduate from Vinoba Bhave University, said.
Tiwari - son of Hari Prasad Tiwari, a clerk at subdivisional office of Dhanbad, and late Bela Devi - had his first album, Dilwa Mange Jharkhand Wale, released in 1997 by Maity Digital Studio, which opened the door for more offers from different agencies, including T-Series.
"T-Series released my album Dhurri Udaaye Ke in 2002. I also sung a song in that album along with Manoj Dharia and Payal Mukherjee. It was a hit, after which I got more offers from T-Series," he added.
Since then, he has written for more than two dozen albums for T-Series and Net India Suvidha Card Limited, namely Toy Hamar Dil Lage, Dil Deewana, Phulmania Ge, Pagal Banai Gele, Dil Tore Diwana etc. Tiwari also wrote the script of Khortha movie Hammar Dehati Babu.
Currently, he is writing a book on Khortha songs, Tor Yaden Mor Kandey.
