Songs are arguably the single most important feature in Bollywood films. Each movie has an average of 5-8 songs sung by "playback" singers. They are so-called, because the song is recorded and then played back on set, while the stars lip sync to it. Tabasam Haseen tell us more.

To break into playback singing is tougher than running the Himalayan 100 mile race... backwards. It is even said that it is easier to break into acting than singing. The rewards if you make it though, are great. Firstly your songs will reach up to a billion in the Indian sub-continent, where the sheer popularity of Bollywood songs dwarfs all other forms of music.

You will also have a career for life, as singers can still be recording popular tunes well into their seventies. To top it all off, playback singers do not have to look like Jennifer Lopez or Enrique Iglesias. They can be as 'facially challenged' as they like, simply because the audience will never get to see the crooners on film.

So you'll be glad to know that you won't have to spend a fortune on cosmetic procedures or the latest designer wear to fit into this exclusive world.

However, there are many obstacles to a Bollywood singing career. Firstly the playback scene is incredibly competitive and is dominated by a few singers. The world's most prolific singer is Bollywood's very own Lata Mangeshkar , who has sung over 25,000 songs in her fifty-year career. If reading that gives you are a sore throat, it will give also you a headache once you realise that that's 25,000 fewer songs for the rest.

In the current climate, things are little better. The industry is still dominated by about five singers, who sing the majority of movie songs. These sought after singers can record up to ten songs per day!

To break into the world of playback singing, it is important to make the right contacts. Contacts are everything. None more important that music directors. Music directors write and compose songs for Bollywood movies and they can have huge influence over the careers of singers, turning anonymous nobodies into singing sensations overnight.

Occasionally music directors will hold auditions for upcoming vocalists, but such opportunities are all too rare.

Many younger singers are turning to India's burgeoning pop industry to provide their break into Bollywood. By releasing a pop single, they hope that doors in Mumbai will start opening for them. Indian pop stars such as Alisha Chinnai, Shaan and British-born Kamaal Khan have made the jump successfully.

For budding British singers this might be a more viable route as the UK has many British Asian record labels that you can send your demos off to. British DJ Farooq thinks that this is the way forward for young British hopefuls. "There are some great Asian singers out here. They're revitalising the British Asian music scene" Farooq says. "Bollywood has now woken up to this fact."

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