Singer Lucky Ali has been navigating the industry for over two decades now and has several successful Bollywood tracks to his name. Though his roots trace back to a filmy family, he stays disconnected from the regular mechanism of the showbiz or the number game of music business. Having seen many ups and downs, Ali has made peace with some bitter chapters of his past.

“Fortunately, I’d say that in my situation, whatever I went through was like a lesson for me,” says Ali, who has always been vocal about not receiving royalties for his songs, some of which have become classics now.

“I didn’t really follow it up (as well). Because there are (other) things to do than to follow up things on that front... Of course, it does hurt you in a sense that you worked on it,” the musician adds.

Instead, the singer, who likes his music to do much of the talking, prefers to look at the brighter side. “The love, the respect and the honour… You can’t buy these things and no amount of royalties or likes can buy that. So, there are great values that I gained from the very material losses that I might have gone through,” he says.

Back in 1996, Ali, son of legendary actor-comedian Mehmood, took the pop route to enter the industry with the release of album, Sunoh. In Bollywood, he got into the spotlight with popular hits from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) – Ek Pal Ka Jeena and Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. In films, he last lent his voice to Safarnama in Tamasha (2015). Indeed his popularity once again soared during the pandemic when his video of performing pop hit O Sanam, went viral.

Mention this, and Ali, 62, humbly expresses his gratitude, and starts introspecting upon his pandemic experience. “It was something that almost felt like it was going to happen, with the way the world was moving. Something like that was expected, which would change the things and world,” mentions Ali, who has recently released a multi-lingual single with Israeli singer-songwriter Eliezer Cohen Botzer.

As an individual, was coping with the changes difficult for the artiste? “For many years, my life has been an isolated one. So, coming back to the farm again… there was nothing new about it, except that nature spoke very differently,” he says, adding, “Nature kind of came out and expressed itself in a way that I have never seen before.. You could see the animals being so free. You could see that in the air.”

Moreover, he was happy not to travel much. “Because after a while, you feel that you need to put your roots down,” he adds.