With one short video of an unplugged version of his 24-year-old song O Sanam, Lucky Ali recently gave a hit of the ’90s nostalgia to many people. Tucked away in a remote area in Goa and living a completely atmanirbhar life on a farm, the singer-composer, however, is unaffected by the viral sensation he’s become in the last few days. Excerpts from a chat with the reluctant conversationalist:

Someone asked me to sing it on video, and I obliged. The attention it received was quite unexpected. For me, it’s just a song that I tried to revamp. I generally don’t think about popularity. We do a lot of work — some get due attention, some don’t.

I have been away from Mumbai for a while; away from the chaos and stress. I like the simple way of living now. Singing for mainstream Bollywood needs a lot of energy — it has to be about the actor, about the story. I don’t think I’m in that mind space now. Having said that, once in a while, some good songs do happen. But I enjoy doing live performances and extempore on stage.

Let them do what they want to, imagine it in their own ways. Someone reinterpreting it is completely their responsibility. They have to live with what they make out of an existing number. If it comes out well, good for them; if it doesn’t, they’ll have to own that, too.

The era has passed. We must grow up and move on. Yes, many good things happened in the ’80s and ’90s in the music world. However, it is better to create stuff that’s worth remembering in the current era.

No, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be in people’s stories, and I don’t want to make mine either. I don’t want to go away from the reality that I’m living in. I don’t want to go to the theatre and watch someone else having issues. Everyone is angry, and I don’t want to be a part of that. Movies used to be fun earlier, something a person could truly enjoy with popcorn. The whole scenario has changed. Cinema isn’t the same anymore.