A pleasant December afternoon was the perfect setting for a casual chat with Farhan Akhtar, a man who dons many hats — actor, producer, singer, director and activist. But Farhan is a picture of simplicity as he settles down for a chat in his caravan, clad casually in jeans and tee, sporting a classic Freddie Mercury style moustache. “I haven’t watched as many Tamil films as I would have wished to. The language is a barrier,” confesses Farhan Akhtar. “But,” he adds, “there’s immense talent here — not only in films but also music.”
Reminiscing about his earlier visit to the city, Farhan says that it was his longest ever stay here. “I was here for five weeks. The sound recording for 'Dil Chahta Hai' was done here at Reel Image. I worked closely with the late H. Shridhar. That was the first time that I had spent a lot of time here. Since then, it has been in and out,” he says.
Balancing many acts comes effortlessly to Farhan, whose philosophy in life is simple — much like the man himself. “Overanalysing stuff is pointless. Go with the flow and do your best. I think it is important to be honest with yourself and what you do,” he says, matter-of-factly.
In the city for a concert with his band, Farhan says that singing the tracks for his film, 'Rock On', revived his passion for music. “Inspiration to sing was mostly what was required for the film, 'Rock On'. For that performance to seem credible, it was important for me to sing. It didn’t make sense if the lead singer of the band had one voice and the songs had another. Then, we had the promotions for the film, where we went to colleges and I sang. That’s where my love for music was revived. It reminded me of the time when I did enjoy singing. That reintroduced me to music,” he reveals.
Farhan taught himself to play the guitar when he was 17. “The main reason why I started playing the guitar was that I could sing along. I remember that I would play it in phases — there were times when I would play every minute till my fingers got sore. Then, while making Dil Chahta Hai, I had no time to play at all,” he muses.
This versatile entertainer is also an activist, who started MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination). Music, concedes Farhan, makes people receptive. “As a part of a MARD initiative, we wanted to talk about the mindset when it comes to gender equality and violence against women. We wanted to change this mindset and balance the social scales at a younger age. So instead of going to colleges and giving lectures — and I’ve sat through a few of those and zoned out after a while — we wanted to perform. Music opens up a lot of people. We talk about MARD through the Farhan Live series of concerts. Most of the band members are studio musicians,” he relates.
Farhan played the lead singer of an ‘indie’ band at a time when commercial or film music reigned supreme. From that point on, the indie music scene in the country has grown by leaps and bounds. That, says Farhan, is fantastic. “There are so many festivals and all the musicians are busy doing gigs. It can’t be only about film music. There has to be a parallel existence for indie music in India. It is good, especially for those musicians who don’t want to play for films,” he says.
Farhan’s 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' received its share of critical acclaim. The actor says that 2014 should be interesting, with 'Shaadi Ke Side Effects' releasing in February.
