Shankar Mahadevan, Indian singer and composer, member of world fusion band Shakti
You go there ... you sing, people are thrilled, you are giving them so much joy, enjoyment, so many memories for the audience and for me - and you get paid for it too!
Sometimes I feel like I'm getting paid for doing nothing! I am just having a great time. People recognise you, I mean I can't ask for anything more!
I had a very ordinary middle-class upbringing, coming from a South Indian Iyer family, born and brought up in Mumbai. Music was always a passion and I learnt it from a very young age, you know how it is with South Indian families.
The inclination was there, so was the opportunity and I learnt Carnatic music (a style of Indian classical music). I also started performing at a very young age, but definitely the focus was on education.
After I completed my degree in computer engineering, I worked with a multinational company. I was doing well, but was also involved in a lot of musical activities.
I definitely wanted to try something that was my passion but also my hobby.
Even though I decided that one fine day I would switch careers, (my move into music as a profession) was a result of me getting more and more involved in musical activities. I felt it held potential, so I consulted a few people - my friends and family - and took the plunge.
There was no opposition to the move as such, but my mother was worried, like any mother would be. After all, I was a successful engineer earning well (and who could take off to the US) ... all my friends were there.
So the security aspect weighed in and also the fact that we could not be sure of the outcome (of the new venture). Also the fact that my father was not alive then. But all of them had faith in me, knew my potential. My friends and relatives managed to convince her. And I was off.
Thankfully, I gained momentum pretty quickly once I got started.
Looking back, I can't say that I had any major break and 'made it' from that day onwards. It didn't happen that way with me and I don't think that's a very healthy way of attaining success. It happened gradually, but it was like a graph that goes up and hopefully will keep going up.
Performing passion
I started learning the veena (a classical stringed instrument) at the age of 5, which was pretty astonishing for my parents.
But they might have had a clue - I started playing the harmonium when I was hardly 4 even though I had never seen the instrument before!
I played songs that were popular then. How? I don't know! I can only say some music bug was there in me, which my parents took note of and encouraged.
I had my first solo performance at around 10 or 11. It was a Carnatic classical concert. I had been performing for some time then, in the sense that I used to perform a lot at school functions, etc.
I never had a proper performance like an arangetram (graduation performance) or a big show. It was at a small sabha (assembly hall) near my house, but a reputed one where people came to listen to good music. It was a very successful concert too.
I was trained by Hindustani classical vocalist Tara Devi (dancer Sitara Devi's sister) in the sense that I happened to meet her and she gave me some tips. I did not learn from her formally.
I was very close to Sitara Devi's son, Ranjit Barot, and I met her through him. She taught me a few semi-classical thumris, bhajans etc.
Bhajans can be really light and non-classical, but what I learnt from her veered towards the classical. I learnt a few things from her that have helped me a lot. It was an eye-opener.
Fusion and fission
Though I was trained in Carnatic classical music and also learnt the veena, being in a city like Mumbai I was exposed to a lot of other forms of music, which was also a very important learning experience.
(This interest in other forms of music) gave me the impetus to perform with bands such as Surya and Divya, even while I was in college. Once while touring with Divya, I got an offer to perform with a Swedish global fusion band called Mynta and I still perform with them.
Much later I joined the fusion band Silk, formed by pianist Louis Banks, bass guitarist Karl Peters and percussionist Sivamani.
And now with Shakti. (Shakti was one of the earliest world fusion bands, formed in the early 1970s with guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L. Shankar, renowned tabla player Zakir Hussain, percussionist R. Raghavan and ghatam player Vikku Vinayakram.
The band went into hibernation around 1977 and was revived by McLaughlin and Hussain about two decades later with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, percussionist V. Selvaganesh, mandolin player U. Shrinivas and Mahadevan.)
I grew up listening to Shakti and it was part of my learning process from my childhood. We used to go and buy cassettes of Shakti then analyse and decode all the phrases and complex rhythm patterns. Never did I think that I was going to be part of it!
With bands like Shakti, there is always the question: what am I singing, words or an improvisation on scales? Actually, some of the compositions like Sakhi have words which describe a conversation between two friends.
But most of the other compositions have improvisational vehicles like alaaps, sargams, taans, etc. The beauty of Shakti is that it is completely open to experimentation.
With a combination of voice and electronics we can create wonders. Where does one go from here? The sky is the limit, literally!
Transition to film music
In the beginning I sang a lot on TV shows, recording for commercials and advertising jingles which kept the bills paid. At one time, I was one of the busiest jingle singers; I would record 15 ads a day! Monetarily I became secure. That gave me the confidence to experiment.
The transition (from singing jingles) to composing music for films just happened. Nothing was planned; we never made any serious decisions.
I was very friendly with (fellow composers and musicians) Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. I used to sing for them sometimes, or compose or write some crazy parts (of a song) ... sometimes just be there.
The late filmmaker Mukul Anand noticed this rapport between us and got us together. He gave us a chance to compose for his (forthcoming) production Dus. We did it for a lark. There was nothing very serious, no formal agreement or anything.
We just gave it a shot. We composed a song Sabse aage honge Hindustani (Indians will be in front) ... and eventually it became very popular.
And then things just started to happen. There were two other songs we recorded. The film never got made, but they were beautiful songs, very good memories.
The songs were released as an album and then the offers started coming in to compose for films. Slowly things started happening and in every film we did at least one song that became very popular.
The next film we did was Shool and the song picturised on Shilpa Shetty, Main Aayee Hoon UP Bihar Lootne, was a big hit. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir and Farhan Akthar's Dil Chahta Hai followed.
Dil Chahta Hai was a kind of stepping stone into the commercial end of Bollywood. The whole canvas was ours and a lot of people noticed us.
But people were still not convinced by our work. They felt we could compose only modern music, the 'with it' stuff. Then we did Kal Ho Na Ho (There might be no tomorrow), which became a much more mass-oriented film.
But (the critics) were still not convinced because the film was set in New York. Modern, you see! Then came Bunty Aur Babli. That was when we attracted a mass audience ... people who listen to Hindi film music were convinced that (we were) capable of composing music of any genre.
The fact that I am doing so many different kinds of musical activities ...
... is what keeps me going. I don't think I am the kind of person who can stick to composing only for films or just touring with a band or performing at film shows or just classical concerts.
I have to do many different things, I think that's what drives me and keeps it fresh (for me). We are not repeating ourselves and every day is a new day.
But there is a lot more to do. Very little has been done so far. A lot of time has been occupied (by composing) Bollywood music because it has such a large canvas, unlike regional or classical music.
Only when you hear your songs being played all over the world do you realise how big it is. You sit in a small room and compose the music and a few months later you hear it being played in California, Africa, the Middle East ... everywhere. That gives you an idea of how big it is.
But we have to go beyond it. I am planning to dedicate more time to some of the many things on my mind.
There is a world of difference between my first album Breathless ...
... and my second, Nine. Breathless too was a concept, but a more regular one. When lyricist Javed Akhtar and I met, he already had the seed of the idea. Nine is a concept album that has not been done before (in which) I wanted to try out the nine different moods.
I had an interesting collaborator in Akhtar, who could write a song on any emotion like, say, jealousy. I don't think anybody has done a song on jealousy or ... fear.
We did not just put in words like "I feel afraid" ... (instead we were) creating images, creating sonic soundcapes that give you the feeling of fear. The album gave us a lot of creative satisfaction, though it didn't become a commercial success.
Juggling the riffs
I have done various things. I have been a judge on a reality television show called Fame Gurukul along withAhktar and singer KK. It was great fun. We had a fantastic time and it was a learning experience, believe me! We learnt a lot of things.
It was wonderful company, the environment was good and it was a new experience for us ... shooting, being there, judging the kids. We really enjoyed ourselves.
I have not thought of acting (in films). I would love to. Maybe some day ... I've acted in one song in a Tamil film called Rhythm. Now I am appearing in some commercials. But music itself is so huge, so vast, I feel that it will eat into the energy or time I have.
The only problem is lack of time.
But I think if you just commit yourself, you can enjoy anything. If an opportunity comes I commit to it and just stick to this.
(When I'm planning my life,) the first thing I mark in are the holidays with my family, so that issue is completely sorted out. For example, take this show (I'm performing in Dubai).
I've marked out the next two days as holidays with my family so that's kept free. My background score composition starts the day after. It's all a matter of planning ahead and prioritising. I have two kids, my sons Siddarth, 14, and Shiva, 6.
My family ... is even more important than my music.
There is lots more to do. I have not even scratched the surface yet. I really wish there were 48 hours in a day!
