How does one keep the passion for their art alive over a 26-year singing career? With riyaaz, dedication, and the knowledge that the craft is almost like a lover you can’t stay away from, chuckles Shaan. In a free-wheeling chat with mid-day, the singer — who voiced Bam Bam Bhole in Sikandar and is looking forward to his upcoming song from Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur — opens up about holding on to the magic of one’s voice despite ageing, and his secret to sounding young, year on year. Excerpts from the interview.

Love happens first, and then it turns into a profession. What comes first will stay till the end. Obviously, there will be a point when the voice may not be how it should be. But in terms of appreciating and having an ear for music, that will always stay. For me and any singer, it can be frustrating [to be at a point] when we’re alive and not able to sing. It’s like being estranged from your lover. We have a crazy, ek tarfa pyaar with our voice.

Honestly, my riyaaz has increased because after a certain point, the voice gets delicate. I started doing more riyaaz after my 40s. Until I met my guruji, my riyaaz was erratic. Sitting down, practising a bandish or doing a sargam — all that started only after 30. But by the time I got to 40, I could see a slight [change in my voice]. I could also see a lot of my seniors sounding older. I wouldn’t want that to happen with my voice. So, the only way I could postpone it was by doing riyaaz.

 

I feel young. Whenever I sing, I imagine an 18- or 20-year-old singing. Also, I often get youthful songs. If I were told that I would be singing for a mature, aged person, I would modulate my voice that way. But mostly, our romantic heroes are young. Even if they’re in their 50s or 60s, it’s important to sound young for them (laughs).

 

It’s the Arijit effect; everyone wants to sound like him. Arijit is an intelligent singer. So, sometimes he surprises you with a different tonality. His voice is so popular with the [decision makers] in the industry that they think, ‘If we can’t get Arijit, at least let us get someone who sounds like him’. A singer doesn’t have much choice.

Also, aspiring singers, who have been listening to Arijit and Atif [Aslam] for 10-15 years, will think that if they sound like them, they will probably get a job. I had a similar situation when I started out. They would ask me, ‘Are you Kishore Kumar or Mohammed Rafi?’ They were two strong schools of singing. Udit ji [Narayan] had a touch of Rafi saab’s style of singing, and [Kumar] Sanu da was from the Kishore Kumar school.

 

I came from Hindi pop and there was no precedent to it. There was no one who was doing pop for me to copy. So, I was an original voice.

Armaan Malik makes a transition to  an English pop music career appear seamless. And yet, several unsuccessful attempts by artistes before him suggest otherwise. As he discusses “returning  home” to the genre of love ballads with You — his latest lilting pop rendition — he opens up on how his seemingly overnight success as an English singer was a “master plan”, a decade in the making.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

You has been with me since two years. It was recorded and produced around the time I had released my debut English track, Control. Recently I was in Paris for a show, and decided that since I was in such a beautiful place, I should record a song. The entire team thought that since You was ready, and we were in Paris, the love capital, it was a no-brainer that we should film it there. The whole thing was conceptualized and shot in 48 hours, even though it may not look like it has. As soon as I came back, we saw cases rise again. I feel, God was looking out for me. I managed to go there, shoot and come back with such a beautiful product. Also, when I began my English music career, I did so in a different zone when pitted against what I was doing in Bollywood. People didn’t relate to me. People know me as this romantic singer who has his way around ballads. So, with You, I felt like I was coming home. 

I am an Indian singer with a body of work in Bollywood and in the Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada [industries]. The ability to do what I did in that market came from the push that I got from here. I am a mainstream artiste trying to make it internationally. My ultimate goal is to develop and create a global audience. For them, I am a new artiste. Some of them could be NRIs who know me through my Bollywood work, and are now discovering me with my English music. I hope they say, ‘Wow, he can sing Bol do na zara, and something like a Control too.’ I am a multilingual singer. I can’t stop singing in all these amazing languages that I know. India is a very big market for [international music labels]. Just the way Korea’s music exploded across the globe with K-pop, I think it is India’s time. This changes how Indians have been perceived so far — which is a country that primarily consumes Bollywood music. I want to make a dent in the international scene.

That’s because this was my master plan. Not too many people know this but my English career journey was in the making for about a decade. It may look like its just the beginning, but I have dreamt this dream over and over again as a child. Releasing Control was a mammoth task for me. A lot of Indians release English songs, but to do so with the aim of creating that impact is not easy. Which is why I went to Los Angeles, and spent time with people to learn the kind of songs that people write. I spent time in New York understanding the industry. I knew that if I wanted to make a dent in the industry, I need to understand it first. Also, while I went about my work in Bollywood, I would silently practice singing in English as well. I have 100 demos of English songs in my laptop, only four of which have released into the world. Every artiste needs to keep hustling. I had this dream at 15. It was realised at 24. 

It’s not easy to sing in English the way I do. People say Indians don’t sing in English correctly because it is not polished. But I’ve consumed it since I was nine. It is as engrained in me as Hindi ragas. Just as much as [I’ve listened to] Mohammed Rafi sa’ab, I have heard John Mayer, and Bruno Mars. It’s part of my DNA. It’s been a silent journey, and now people are seeing the results. I didn’t have anyone to brief me. Vocally, a lot of the training was self-taught. But, the knowledge of being in the right direction came from the reception I got from an acclaimed [music label head] who wanted to sign me. That came as a seal of approval.

Nikita Deb (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 11, 2020)

As we slowly move towards reopening things after an almost three-month-long nationwide Coronavirus lockdown, singer Mika Singh says he is very excited that life is getting back to normal. “Everyone knows about the dos and don’ts of going out, so if they continue to follow the rules of social distancing, etc., I think we will be fine,” he says.

During the lockdown, Singh had released a single titled Quarantine Love, and yesterday he released another single titled Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho (Lockdown). With this remake of the popular song, Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho (Hanste Zakhm; 1973), the singer has attempted to remake a Mohammad Rafi song for the first time. “I have sung remakes in the past but I never tried Mohammed Rafi Saab’s songs. Thankfully and luckily, none of my remakes got trolled,” says Singh, who has sung recreations such as Poster Lagwado (Luka Chuppi; 2019) and Aankh Marey (Simmba; 2018), among others.

He adds, “All these songs became hits by God’s grace, but most importantly, no one said anything bad about them. Meri hamesha koshish rehti hai ki in gaano ki kabhi taang na todi jaye, unke lyrics kharab na ho, so that people like the song.”

The 43-year-old singer feels we have extremely talented young singers in the industry but there’s a problem with the way they sing remakes. “They give the old songs a certain kind of sound jisse gaana kharab ho jata hai. For example, Kumar Sanu is the tiger of the music industry, and when I sang Aankh Marey, I had to match his voice. I took a week to listen to all of dada’s songs, to understand how he has such a brilliant voice — the kind of voice that we call a 70mm voice, a voice that suits the big screen. Woh bade parde wali awaaz hi gayab ho rakhi hai pichle kayi saalon se,” shares Singh.

“When you remake a legend’s song, you have to be very careful because you can never compare yourself to them. Aapko yeh maan ke chalna hai ki main uske ird gird nahi gaa paunga, na hi better ga paunga. But because the song is maybe 20 years old, there are a lot of young people who may not have heard it. So it is important to remake these songs for them,” he explains.

Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 28, 2020)

We have it in us to surpass every hurdle if we face it with a smile, believes Asha Bhosle. While everyone is talking about precautions to stay healthy during these unprecedented times, the veteran singer is also focusing on the importance of “inner peace”.

She says, “These difficult times are frustrating, so we need to enjoy the smaller joys in life. Yeh khushi aapke andar hai, bahar dhoondne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Chaahe ek niwaala kam bhi ho, chaahe kitne bhi kasht seh rahe ho, aap khush phir bhi reh sakte hain.” She believes that people need to adapt to the changing world. “Neither good nor bad times last. Even this corona will go away. We go through so many difficult phases in our lives. This time, too, we’ll emerge winners. Bas haste raho, hasaate raho, ek dusre ka saath dete raho,” she adds.

Bhosle, 86, plans to talk about the significance of contentment and her journey via her new channel on a video-sharing platform. “My granddaughter, Zanai, has been telling me to start my own channel, but I didn’t have the time,” she says, adding, “I’ve been singing since the age of 10 and have many stories to share. About collaborating with [Mohammed] Rafi saab, Kishore Kumar, Pancham (R D Burman), singing duets with didi (singer Lata Mangeshkar), kya kya karte thhe hum...”

Quarantining in Lonavala (Maharashtra) with son Anand and his wife Anuja, and grandchildren Zanai and Ranjai, she shares, “My son takes care of our restaurants abroad, while my daughter-in-law manages the business here. My grandchildren study abroad. We rarely meet each other properly, but now we are getting to know each other better.”

On the work front, she plans to team up with new artistes for upcoming tracks. But the new projects will begin once she and her family go back to Mumbai in the next few days.

Sunil Baghel (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 12, 2019)

Almost 40 years after Mohammed Rafi’s death, his youngest son Shahid Rafi is fighting a legal battle to retain the family home – Rafi Mansion – that the legendary singer built on Bandra’s 28th Road in the 1970s. HDFC Bank had filed a petition in the court seeking possession of Shahid’s fifth floor flat in the building, which came up in the 1980s after the bungalow in which Rafi resided was razed.

The bank has claimed that Shahid inked a deal with a company, Nimbus Industries Limited, to sell the flat, and the company took a Rs 4.16-crore loan from the bank to purchase the property. After Nimbus defaulted on repayment, the bank moved the court claiming the property.

Shahid said that the flat is worth at least Rs 5 crore, even in today’s weak economic climate. He argued that he never intended to sell the property to Nimbus, and that he had entered into an agreement with the company in November 2017 in lieu of a loan for a “short period” after he suffered losses in business. He further said that he did not receive the entire amount promised to him by the company, hence the agreement wasn’t executed. Moreover, the agreement wasn’t registered with the authorities, hence it cannot be binding, he argued.

While the high court refused to grant relief to Shahid citing that the fact that a cancellation deed was executed, which meant that the sale did take place, he received a glimmer of hope at the Debt Recovery Tribunal, which granted stay in his favour on Thursday.

Shahid, who approached the tribunal after the high court allowed him to take appropriate proceedings, said that this is the sole house in his name. In the suit he filed in the high court, he said, “The flat has memories and sentiments attached thereto since Mohammed Rafi once lived in the bungalow standing in place of the existing building.”

In the Debt Recovery Tribunal where he is represented by advocates Hiren Pandya and Trupti Kapadia, he said that the agreement with Nimbus was being signed “only for finance purposes for a short term” and that he never had any plan to sell the flat. He said that he received Rs 1.95 crore, though the agreement records payment of Rs 3.16 crore. “I was asked not to deposit the cheques by Nimbus’s director,” he claimed.

Advocate Firoz Bharucha, representing HDFC Bank in the high court, said that the agreement between Shahid and Nimbus had concluded, giving the bank all the rights to attach the property.

Himesh Reshammiya's protege and Internet sensation Ranu Mondal on her journey from the railway station to the studio
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; September 12, 2019)

Her singing skill may have thrust her to overnight stardom, but Ranu Mondal seems at ease in the spotlight. Mondal — who became an Internet sensation after a video of her singing Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai, at the Ranaghat railway station went viral last month — has lent her voice to two songs in mentor Himesh Reshammiya's upcoming film, Happy Hardy And Heer.

"I never gave up hope. Even during the worst phase of my life, singing kept me going. I didn't imagine that I would get such a huge platform, but I had complete faith in my voice," she says. Ask her if recording the first number was an intimidating experience, and she says assuredly, "When I wore the headphones for the first time, it made me even more confident. I used to listen to songs of Lata ji [Mangeshkar], Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar and keep learning."

Reports suggested that the singer, 58, had been abandoned by daughter Elizabeth Sathi Roy, which was subsequently denied by the latter. "I don't want to dwell in the past. God willing, we all can be together again someday." Proud to help her find a footing in Bollywood, Reshammiya says, "Salman bhai's [Khan] father, Salim uncle once advised me that whenever I come across a talented person, I should encourage him. Ranu ji's singing was so mesmerising that I had to give her this platform."

Javed Akhtar talks about receiving flak from the fraternity for supporting the Copyright Bill, mediocre scriptwriters, and his upcoming film Namaste England
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; September 30, 2018)

After working for almost every day of your life (since the 1970s), you seem to have slowed down. Is it a conscious decision?
I didn't opt for retirement. The industry had stopped giving me work for a while. During the fight to pass the Copyright Amendment Bill [which ensured that writers, lyricists, singers, scriptwriters get an equal financial share in their work and not just the producer], I received support from the music fraternity, but was removed from the most popular writer's list [laughs]. Several filmmakers withdrew from me and I was not being offered films. Thankfully, things have changed in the last few months because I believe, producers and music companies have reconciled with the idea that the law has changed, and no one is going to be at the losing end. Composers and lyricists will get a better royalty, something that they truly deserve.

Being a veteran in this industry, did you expect to receive flak from the fraternity?
I had decided to speak up and if I had to pay a price for it, I was fine. It was my choice and I still stand by it. Even if people don't want to work with me in future, I am not going to hold grudges against them. I was guided by conscience and principles. It was great when the government and opposition unanimously passed this bill.

You have spent more than four decades in the industry. How do you look back at your career?
I have seen the highs and the lows. Both are important. Overall, it has been a satisfying journey. My only regret is my lack of discipline. Had I had that I could have achieved a lot more. But I haven't given up. I'm in competition with myself, but when I look at the mediocrity around me, I feel poignant. I am not saying that there are no good lyric writers, but I believe the charm is lost. Apart from a handful lyricists, nobody understands poetry.

Is that an observation over the remixes we've seen lately?
That is one of the pressing concerns. It is creative vandalism and bankruptcy. I don't understand the need to remix classic songs. Why is there a lack of self-confidence? Lyricists should be confident enough to give hit songs. Why do they feel the need to borrow? Besides that, these songs by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar are our cultural heritage and must be preserved, rather than adding rap to it. Some things need to be respected the way they are.

Do you feel mediocrity has seeped into script-writing as well?
The script is the core of any successful project, but that concept seems lost. Films these days are made on magnanimous budgets, but only one per cent is spent on the script. You may shoot in foreign locales, add special effects and get the best actors on board, but without a good script, everything falls flat. Unfortunately, scriptwriters are paid peanuts. Everyone seems to be in a rush to announce their release dates. Writers need to be paid well and be given ample time to work on the material. When Pandit Mukhram Sharma [before our time] or we [Salim-Javed] wrote scripts, we commanded a position that compelled producers to pay the price we quoted. I wonder if writers today would be allowed to be that powerful or be given that position. Precisely why, I am not sure if we'll ever have another Salim-Javed. At the same time, it's interesting to see the variety of stories offered today, which was not available back in the day. Things are better in that aspect.

Do you feel the restriction on freedom of expression by some fringe groups force filmmakers to compromise on their work?
We have seen many unconstitutional powers in society take a stand and get away with it often. It is undemocratic and sad that the freedom of speech is lost. It's a law and order problem. I believe it is the responsibility of the government that the dignity of a prestigious body like the Censor Board needs to be preserved. Indian film industry is a huge organisation which generates a lot of revenue and employment, but the government tends to be cynical about our problems. There is a lot of callousness, carelessness, and jealousy involved, which needs to be looked into.

What stops you from writing a script?
Sheer laziness. My songs are doing well and writing them comes easy to me, which also gets me the appreciation and a lot of money [laughs], but I miss writing scripts. I have written a couple of scripts and am waiting to find the right people who would be passionate enough to make it.

It's been a while since your son [Farhan Akhtar] directed a film.
My guess is as good as anybody, but I feel he is finding pleasure in working as an actor or going on stage and performing for now. Direction is a serious job and there have been many times that he has toyed with the idea of getting back to direction, but I don't know what happened of it. He hasn't closed the doors to direction for sure.

Coming up next
Javed Akhtar, who had earlier written songs for Vipul Shah's Namastey London, is also penning the lyrics for the Arjun Kapoor-Parineeti Chopra-starrer Namaste England. "Vipul is an easy-going director and a dear friend. When filmmakers know what they want from a song and scene, it becomes easy to write, that's why I love working with Vipul. I also enjoyed working in tandem with Manan Shah [music composer]. He is young, talented and has a bright future."

The actor’s upcoming musical-drama brings back the evergreen track ‘Badan Pe Sitare’ which features playback by Sonu Nigam
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 19, 2018)

Even as Atul Manjrekar’s musical drama, Fanney Khan, featuring Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Rajkummar Rao is gearing up for an unveiling on August 3, Mirror has learnt that the makers recently filmed “Badan Pe Sitare Lapete Hue”, from Lekh Tandon’s 1969 film Prince on Anil. Mohd. Rafi ’s iconic rendition was originally picturised on Shammi Kapoor.

“AK sir’s character who is an orchestra singer considers Mohammad Rafi and Shammi Kapoor as his Gods and sings their songs. This one is his most favourite. You’ll also see him pull off some of Shammi saab’s iconic moves,” informs Atul.

He is quick to add that they have not recreated the song for the Bhushan Kumar, Anil Kapoor and PS Bharathi production but have only given it a new voice, retaining the original lyrics and music. National Award-winning singer Sonu Nigam has lent his voice to it this time around. “We couldn’t use Rafi saab’s voice as AK Sir’s character sings in the film. At the same time, we wanted someone who would do justice to our tribute to the original. It was AK sir who suggested Sonu’s name and all of us instantly agreed because who better than him to do justice to this great song,” adds the director.

Born and brought up in Mumbai, as a child Atul had seen a lot of orchestras, many of them with a junior Mohammad Rafi or Kishore Kumar who besides singing would also perform on a number sung by the originals. “These orchestra experiences have stayed with me and made their way into the script,” he smiles.

Anil was extremely excited to be a part of the song as his filmmaker-father, Surinder Kapoor, had worked with Shammi Kapoor and he would visit the actor’s house and spend a lot of time with him. “In fact, as a child he even sang and danced to this particular song and his eyes lit up when I had discussed the idea with him,” Atul signs off with a laugh.