Ayaan Agnihotri aka Agni comes from a lineage that boasts of names such as his grandfather, writer Salim Khan, and uncles, actors Salman Khan, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan. Even his sister, Alizeh Agnihotri made her foray into acting in 2023. However, Ayaan, son of producer-fashion designer Alvira Khan Agnihotri and actor-filmmaker Atul Agnihotri, has chosen music as his career.

He recently released his single, Universal Laws, and has been working on his own EP. Mention his lineage and he says, “It feels good to know that maybe I can contribute something that’s different, something that people wouldn’t expect from my family.”

Ask him why he chose to dabble in English music and the 27-year-old says, “It’s easier for me to express myself in English. Also, I’ve always listened to and been inspired by English music.”

However, he adds, “I’ve done Hindi songs with (musician) Himesh Reshammiya and also (composer duo) Sajid-Wajid. I’ll be very happy to do more Hindi music later. But, if I work in Hindi first and get accepted there, I don’t know if I’d ever get accepted in English (music).”

Even with his background, it took Ayaan eight years to find a producer: “I didn’t feel that I was there yet. I knew that I sounded bad — my accent was heavier, and my delivery and breath control weren’t great. There was a lot of scope for improvement. If I’m going to go out there, then I better be good at it. And that’s why it took eight years of just refining.”