Playback singer Shankar Mahadevan promotes AAPI cause in 9-city tour
By BalaChandran
WASHINGTON, DC: Popular playback singer Shankar Mahadevan was in the U.S capital, where his troupe, Shankar Ehsan Roy, performed Friday night as part of a nine-city U.S. tour. Its main sponsor, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), is using the tour to spread awareness about childhood obesity. Before the concert Mahadevan sat for an interview. Excerpts from the interview:
You have performed in six cities so far in the current tour. How has the experience been?
Wonderful! This tour has been really special. The content is very special this time. [It’s] very different. The first part of the concert is a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema. We paid our respects and dedication to all the great masters of Indian cinema. We got a chance to perform the songs of Madan Mohan, S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman, LaxmikanthPyarelal, with our own little twist. Modernized [them] a little; gave it a fresh fragrance, which people really appreciated. And of course, we had Shankar-Ehsan-Loy songs, which are popular, so people end up dancing, clapping. I think from what I gathered, it’s been a memorable concert for the audience and for us.
How would you compare the Indian American concert audiences with audiences in India? Is there any difference in taste and sensibilities?
I wouldn’t say there are any differences because, at the end of the day, they are all Indians, whether they are here, or whether they are there. It is the music that speaks. The music communicates the same way. You know kajra re is as popular here as it is there. When I sing Breathless, the kind of ecstasy the audience goes into, whether I sing in Ahmedabad, or whether I sing in Kerala, or whether I sing in Raleigh or Detroit, it is the same. I think it is the music that communicates to every audience. I wouldn’t say the audiences are different. But it is always a pleasure to come over here because we visit here only once in two or three years.
So the American way of life has not changed the musical preference of Indian Americans?
Not at all. I think they are more aware and glued on to the Indian culture here. They don’t want to let go what they have left when they came here.
Shankar, Ehsan and Loy have been together for more than a decade and a half. During the period you have won a number of awards. What makes Shankar-Ehsan-Loy click?
The fact that we are different individuals as people, as musicians and musical preferences, as preferences in life, as opinions, we are all different. We are completely opposite from each other. I think opposites attract!
What is your next big music project?
It is a film called BhaagMilkhaBhaag. It is a very big film by RakeyshOmprakashMehra. FarhanAkhtar is playing [the legendary Indian middle-distance runner] Milka Singh. It has got a lot of music in it—seven to eight songs, out of which a couple of songs are already becoming popular in the Indian charts. Soon you will hear [them] over here in the U.S. People are appreciating it a lot. That’s one big project that is coming up.
A lot of things are in the pipe line. I am doing a lot of spiritual music, bhajans. I am doing a lot of music with Shakthi, which is a world music group. I am doing a lot of music in ShankarMahadevanAcademy.com, which is the first online music academy in the world. I am planning to set up an online portal and a music label for myself, where I promote and also perform with artists whom I feel comfortable with, even new artists who want to put out anything which I have faith in, I can bring and put it under that label.
Your son just debuted as a playback singer…
My son Sidharth just debuted in the film BhaagMilkhaBhaag. One of the main songs called Zinda and the BhaagMilkhaBhaag rock version was sung by him.
Did you train him?
Not actually. I did not train him. I think it is something that he had on his own. It is his own style. He doesn’t sound like me. He is training under a teacher in India. He came on his own merit.
Does he consult with your, or ask for your opinions?
Oh my God! He is my friend. Having a 20-year-old child who is techno savvy, who knows everything around—in fact, there are so many instances where I have to ask for opinion from him and take advise from him!
One of the sponsors of your current tour is AAPI. It also has a worthy cause: fighting childhood obesity. Tell us more about it.
I have had a wonderful experience with AAPI. I performed for AAPI about four years ago, in Washington, DC, itself. Now I have got a chance to do an entire tour for them. It has been rocking; people have been appreciating the concerts. Our arrangements are fantastic. It is nice to meet all the doctors. It is an honor because I feel that being a doctor is the most noble profession. When you are a doctor, and when you need them, at that moment they take the place of God.