Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; January 24, 2014)

Farhan Akhtar will be performing live for the first time in Mumbai for the Times of India at Bandra Fort on January 26. Apart from being a multi-talented writer, director, actor and singer, Farhan is intelligent, witty, charming and simple. We spoke to him about music and his favourite singers. Excerpts:
 
How did you become a singer?
I have had a predisposition to music from a very young age, be it singing or playing an instrument. My parents recognised that when I was six years old and got me a music teacher who taught me Indian classical music. As I was growing up, I lost interest in the discipline of it. My leanings at that time, was listening to the Beatles, which is what I used to sing a lot too and was also very different from Indian classical music. Somehow, when I was put in the discipline of singing Sa Re Ga Ma and Sa Pa Sa, I think I got bored as a child. In retrospect, I wish I had stuck with it a little longer. I started playing guitar at 16 and that’s when my love for singing came back. My dad has a rhythm inside him and my mum sings in total key and tune, but nobody in our family sung professionally. In that sense, I am the first. We are all born with a natural timbre that we have. You may want to sound like someone else but each’s voice quality is unique. For me to effectively convey the emotion of the song is more important than the texture of your voice. Both my daughters are interested in music and I did send them for singing classes. But then, they went through the same thing as I did. It requires a certain nurturing from the parents’ side that I may have failed to do due to my time constraints. I think it seems to be the tradition in our family that we don’t seem to push anybody to do anything. We let them find their own feet.
 
Were you comfortable singing your first professional song in Rock On?
I was very nervous. When I went into the studio and met the director Abhishek Kapoor, he had no idea that I played the guitar and sang. So it was a bit of a surprise for him, though I had assumed that that is why we were meeting. I sang four or five cover songs — and was so comfortable as those were songs I knew — with Shankar Mahadevan standing across the glass. Even though I have been working with Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, right from Dil Chahta Hai, I have always been with them on the same side, so to be standing on the other side with my headphones on and trying to please Shankar with my singing made me very nervous.
 
Singing live is tough. Do you enjoy it?
It’s difficult to explain the feeling, but there is a certain engagement with so many people that happens in a blink of an eye and stays during the concert. The energy that is created is difficult to put in words. There is a huge adrenaline rush for sure and there is something that frees you immediately. The interaction with the audience is so true and you come to know if they are enjoying themselves or not. That honesty is very precious. There is an X-factor to live music. The way you connect in that moment with the audience you will never get in a film.
 
Did you look up to some singer?
Kishore Kumar is the most amazing and gifted singer that I have heard in the Indian film singer context. I was very young when I remember seeing him. We went to school at Maneckji Cooper and there was a place where we played cricket. On the other side of the wall was his house. And of course, he was a huge icon and so all of us would try and climb the wall and get a glimpse of him. We would look out for times when he was in his garden as he would wave out to us from there. It was quite cool. I remember seeing him live at Shanmukhananda Hall at one of his concerts. Both my parents knew him and would tell me great things about him.
 
Your favourite singer from the current generation?
I am a big Sunidhi fan. I love her voice, I love the way she nails the attitude of every song she does. She is dynamite on stage. She is also very easy to work with. I like her music and different kinds of music and like the way she adapts herself to different kinds of songs.
 
Among the new talent, who do you see potential in?
I feel Arijit Singh is lovely and is very talented. I find Siddharth Mahadevan (who sang Zinda and the rock version of the title track of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) to be a kind of next-gen singer and composer and feel that he has a great future. It’s nice to see the inception of his career and be a part of it. I did feel that Lungi Dance was a fun song that was addictive and had a nice contagious groove to it. It was nice to dance to.
 
Any changes that you have observed, related to music?
It’s nice to see that in songs like Khwabon Ke Parindey from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or Tum Hi Ho from Aashiqui 2 or O Rangrez from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, there seems to be the emergence of the audience relaxing and listening to what is being said, which is usually being lost in over-production. It’s rare now when you can listen to and remember the lyrics.
 
You have worked a lot with Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.
There is a synergy between us and we are also friends, apart from the fact that they are very talented. When there is comfort and friendship, you are able to say a no without feeling that you are ruffling any feathers.