You are considered one of the most successful, and indeed soulful, singers in Bollywood. When did you start training as a singer and looking at playback as a professional career?
A. I started singing when I was a kid. My first introduction to music happened in childhood. But my professional journey started with A.R. Rahman, roughly around the years 1999 and 2000, with Dil Se. Before that I had sung a song for Laxmikant-Pyarelal when I was in England.
Q. What kind of bond do you share with A.R. Rahman?
A. He is a genius. There are certain kinds of people who are especially talented, and when I first heard his music, from films like Bombay, Roza, I was flabbergasted. And I wanted to meet this genius. So, I sent some of my music to him and he agreed to meet me without even listening to my music. And I met him in Chennai. He also wanted me to write songs for him. And then the first song happened with him which was “Mujhe Rang De” for the film Thakshak, directed by Govind Nihalani. And this song became a huge hit. Then I insisted that I wanted to sing Kalam Baba Bulleh Shah’s song “Tere Ishq Nachahya Karke Thaiya Thaiya” and the best part was as soon as he heard me singing, he hugged me. It was the best experience. Then we started working together and finally the day came when we won the Oscar.
Q. You have also performed Panjabi songs a lot. What is your take on the kind of songs featured in Punjabi films?
A. Basically, I am a very progressive person. I look for both—positive aspects and negative aspects. I don’t judge music most of the time because I can judge a performance but not music. I don’t judge what is good or bad; what I aim for is what better I can do in terms of the music. And when I feel there is something I can do to make the music better, I tend to adopt that measure. In any musical era, you would notice that there are both negative and positive changes. What you have to do is to go for more colourful and better ones, which will be useful for the music industry.
Q. If you compare your time with contemporary singers today, the new breed seems to have come up with more ideas on how to make their songs popular among the masses, by releasing their separate albums besides doing film music. Back in the day, people could hardly recognise the faces of singers they loved. But this is now changing. Is that a good thing?
A. This is a good thing. If someone is making an effort to get their work recognised, there is nothing wrong in it. But still, I feel that your voice should be your identification. If a singer’s voice is not being recognised by the masses, it’s very sad. Whenever you hear Lata ji, Mukesh ji, Asha ji, you can easily recognise them and that’s the beauty of such singers. If today’s singers are trying to establish their identity through their faces, there is nothing bad in it. But what’s equally important is your voice, because ultimately, it’s about the singer and his music. When your voice becomes your unique identity, then it’s the most natural thing. I am not against glamour and style, which have been recently become part of the music industry. But we should not forget that we also need to pay attention to our content.
“There is nothing wrong in actors trying their hand in singing as these actors also realise that this is not going to be their career. They are also not doing it just for fun. Very few of them can sing well. Also, I don’t think such efforts end up projecting playback singing as something easy. The stars who are trying to sing, even they understand professionally the value of singing.”
A. I am a sports person. And I happy that I got an opportunity to perform for the sports people. This was a football under-19 team. It was such a good experience to perform in front of such eminent personalities. I have also performed for the team in various places and this is also my way of motivating them. I admire this concept, where the government is promoting outdoor games like football because young children are so much engrossed in computers and mobile games that they are losing their physical strength. And this kind of activity will also morally support and encourage them. For this particular event, I had specially written a song composed by Vishal Mishra. It was very charming and everybody loved it. After this successful event, I have also been approached for another football championship where 28 countries from across the world would participate in India.
Q. These days, it’s for actors to try their hand at singing. What explains this trend? And how do you feel about it?
A. I don’t see any problem in it. There is nothing wrong in it as these actors also realise that this is not going to be their career. They are also not doing it just for fun. Very few of them can sing well. Also, I don’t think such efforts end up projecting playback singing as something easy. The stars who are trying to sing, even they understand professionally the value of singing.
Q. In many cases, the voice of these star singers is enhanced using technological tools.
A. So, in that case, my response would be: how many days would you make your body survive just on medicines? Medicine is a need but if you make it part of your lifestyle, it is going to backfire. In the same way, you have to go through the natural process to sing better and the only way is through hard work and practice. And I’ll tell you the world is full of talented people and the one who works hard, shines. So, as a listener, you can easily differentiate between a natural singer and a singer who is totally dependent on machine-based singing.
Q. Please tell us about your upcoming projects?
A. My next song is for the film Sachin: A Billion Dreams, which is again with A.R. Rahman. And I believe this song will also create history like “Jai Ho”.