Dhaval Roy (DNA; April 13, 2019)

Music has always been an integral part of Farhan Akhtar’s repertoire, whether as a filmmaker or an actor — right from his directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai (2001) to his last outing as a singer, Rock On 2 (2016). Over the years, he has lent his voice to tracks in Rock On!! (2008), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Dil Dhadakne Do (2015) and more. While all those have been in Hindi, the actor-filmmaker-musician’s first solo English album Echoes released yesterday. The musician, who performs with Farhan Live Band, says that he has chosen to release the 11-track record in English because that’s the language in which he can best articulate his feelings.

A MEDIUM TO EXPRESS EMOTIONS
Four singles of the album — Rearview Mirror, Seagull, Why Couldn’t It Be Me and Pain or Pleasure — were released earlier. Farhan tells us that they are acoustic and intimate. The subjects are as varied as the Peshawar School Massacre in 2014 (Why Couldn’t It Be Me) to falling out of love and more. “I’m really excited about this album,” says the 45-year-old. He continues, “I’ve been performing as an artiste for six-odd years, and having a lot of fun doing music for films. But, I realised that it would be nice to share with my fans who I am and what my feelings are about things, instead of what a character thinks in a film. I’ve been writing poems for decades now and in the last couple of years, I started feeling a strong urge to put it all down and release it.”

Farhan tells us, “Music is a great outlet and has given me immense comfort. There’s so much love in creating something and it’s great when you are able to share it with people,” he states, adding that he cannot wait to play these tunes for a live audience.

MORE MATERIAL READY
The award-winning filmmaker tells us that he has more stuff ready to enter the studio again. The next record is likely to have collaborations. “Also, I need to focus on my film work. Currently, I’m in serious prep for the movie (Toofan) that I’m doing with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and need to see that through,” he explains. Farhan took a year-and-a-half off his film career to work on the album. “I didn’t shoot for anything between Lucknow Central (2017) and The Sky Is Pink, and only focussed on music. I’m trying to be as single-minded about each task as possible,” he elaborates.

NO COMPOSITIONS FOR FILMS
Since Farhan has also created these tracks, we ask him if he has given composing for his own movies a thought. “Making music for Hindi movies is a completely different ball game. Also, I have been extremely fortunate to be working with the best in the business for the past 20-odd years. And like it’s said, if something is not broken, why fix it?” he reasons, “We have a great collaborative relationship with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. It has worked so well over the years and I choose to keep it that way.”

The trio was also among the first people whom Farhan played the album for, when the songs were just scratches. “They loved the writing. They had tips in terms of music production and direction and I took the advice. They care a lot about me not only as a friend but also as an artiste, so the feedback was important,” he says.

FEEDBACK FROM THE FAMILY
Needless to say, lyricist-poet father Javed Akhtar and director-screenwriter sister Zoya Akhtar form the inner circle that will always hear everything he creates. “For dad, what each number said, the word, as well as the story, was important. It’s not just tracks put together without any thought that impressed him the most. It’s easy-listening stuff, so he liked that as well,” Farhan signs off.

Deepali Singh (DNA; January 20, 2018)

It was in 2013 that actor-director Farhan Akhtar formed his music band Farhan Akhtar Live. Ever since, he has been at the receiving end of criticism for his singing. But that hasn’t stopped him from performing live at a number of stage shows, both here as well as at international venues. Remind him of the brickbats that have often come his way, and Farhan says that he would rather look at the bouquets. “I have always felt that it’s important to focus on the positives. There is a lot of love and support. You can’t always please everyone. People have a choice or freedom to listen to what they want if they don’t enjoy what I do,” he says.

Being positive
It’s with this positivity and focus that he performed at the Ranthambore Festival at Nahargarh Palace yesterday. Along with his band, Farhan paid tribute to some of his favourite musicians including David Bowie, Jethro Tull, and The Beatles apart from singing some tracks from his films. “We enjoy performing live and if we get opportunities to share the love of playing music with an audience who is equally enthusiastic to listen and see you, even better,” he adds.

Making his own music
For the past two years, Farhan has also been working on his solo English album. “I felt that I wanted to write my own music. Last year, I travelled to Milan to record eight songs with producer Tommaso, who has worked with the band Muse. I’ve been in the studio before for my film music, but to have that experience with your own songs is different. It’s almost cathartic,” says the actor whose last two movies, Rock On 2 and Lucknow Central, did not fare well at the box office. Is he questioning or rethinking his choices now? “There is no point questioning as those films have already been made. You have to remember that you did them for a reason. It often happens that the things you believe in don’t work out, but you have to stay true to yourself as an artiste,” he adds.

The road ahead
Going forward, he says it’s important for him to have an emotional reaction to a script when he hears the narration. “The only thing I have to offer is my emotional instinct,” says the actor, who is busy reading scripts these days.

MUMBAI MIRROR (January 16, 2018)

Farhan Akhtar has begun the year on a musical note. The actor-filmmaker-musician is currently on a 13-city concert tour with his band Farhan Live for the next 49 days and has already performed in Mangalore and Indore in the last week, rounding off the weekend with IIT Chennai.

Recently, his Wazir co-star Aditi Rao Hydari turned up at one of the venues to suprise him along with their director Bejoy Nambiar. The actress also took to the stage to join Farhan for a song.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 20, 2014)

Farhan Akhtar who has been performing at various college festivals across the country will ring in the New Year with a three-month-long concert tour with his nine-member band, Farhan Live.

The singer-actor, whose last live gig was a Bangalore show on December 12, will continue the streak in January 2015, with performances in Pune, Belgaum, Delhi, Kolkata, Ranchi and Bangalore. The following month he will be on stage in Goa, Allahabad, Hyderabad and Kota. He will also cross borders to Nepal, Dubai and Australia. In March, he will travel to Kuwait, followed by an extensive tour across various cities in the US.

And a month later, the sequel to Rock On 2 goes on the floors.

According to a source, these shows are not only a great way to connect with fans across India and abroad, but are also a live prep for his upcoming film. In the sequel Farhan will once again reprise the role of Aditya Shroff, a banking executive who returns to his first love - music.

In an interview to Mirror (January 30), Farhan had admitted that when he entered Bollywood almost a decade ago, he was categorical that he only wanted to write, direct and produce films with friend and business partner Ritesh Sidhwani.

That's what he did till early 2007 when Abhishek Kapoor came to him with the role of Aditya in Rock On!!

Farhan, who by then had established himself as a director with Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya and Don--The Chase Begins, was coaxed into facing the camera. He agreed as Aditya came from a familiar world and played the music he connected with.

His first act won him plenty of accolades. Encouraged, he not only agreed to produce sister Zoya's Luck By Chance, but also acted in it as even after seven years, she was unable to find a leading man.

Today, the accidental actor is a star. Even though he has two fully developed scripts ready, Farhan has taken a twoyear break from direction to focus on acting.

Having wrapped up Zoya's Dil Dhadakne Do, he has been playing chess with Amitabh Bachchan in Wazir where he plays an ATS officer. He had to drop out of Raees for Rock On 2 but before the film goes on the floors, Farhan, who trained for months to race like Milkha Singh, wants to rock for real. When contacted, Farhan confirmed,"Yes, I'm going on tour before I start shooting for Rock On 2 in April."