Singer Shaan who became a household name with Zee TV’s talent hunt show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, returned to host a 25-hour virtual musical concert, Ek Desh, Ek Raag, to commemorate the show’s silver jubilee in May and raise funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic. He admits that turning host again was fun, but he can’t do it regularly. “I’m not used to lenses and today, you need to read from the teleprompter unlike in the past when we were more impromptu. It was good when I was in my 20s, but now I’m in my 50s and it can only be a one-off event,” he admits. Point out that he still looks 20 and he quips, “In my mind, I’m still 20. Also, smiling keeps you young.”

In September, he had a chance meet with fellow singers Sonu Nigam and Abhijeet Bhattacharya when they found themselves cooped up in the same hotel, the Covid-19 scare stopping them from stepping out. “So, we got together, chatted, exchanged ideas and relived our musical journey. Sonu’s vlogs are anyway the talk of Covid times, and because of them, I got in the news too. Abhijeet da tested positive and since he was away from his family, I was worried for him, like a brother. He’d send me daily updates,” he reveals.

Meanwhile, Shaan himself has been creating a bank of new songs during the lockdown and now, is ready to release a Pinglish (Punjabi-English) party anthem, “Sniper”, the video for which was shot in Goa before the pandemic. “It didn’t feel right earlier, but now, with lockdown easing, the hip-hop track can bring the fun back into our lives,” he points out.

Interestingly, Shaan will be seen in a completely new avatar, that of a Casanova gangster. “My friends pushed me to try something new, reasoning that since I work out so much, I should put it to use and I fell into their trap. But hey, I am 48, and I thought abhi nahi toh kabhi nahi. So, I have a bunch of cool guys and girls around me in swimwear. I admit even I was a little apprehensive initially but after the shoot I realised the world has moved on and I should too,” he laughs, saying his kids were shocked to see their father like this while his wife called it a “mid-life crisis”. On his part, he quotes Mika Singh and promises you may love this new Shaan or hate him, but you won’t be able to ignore him.

He goes on to say that he wants to make his music available to as many people as possible, free of any commercial backing. “Music labels and producers take artists, make them big, then, leave them in some jungle and they are lost to the world. I’m fortunate to be one of the last few artists who still have control over their music. I know I’m no longer at my peak, but that shouldn’t stop me from having fun and exploring more,” he points out, saying he’s accepting smaller films to establish himself as a composer. “Hopefully, in the next three-four years I will be a brand.”