Cherishing life’s twists

It is raining outside and Bollywood singer Shahid Mallaya, who is in Kochi, enjoys the pitter-patter. “It is so cool and green here,” says the singer. Kochi witnesses a twist in his career — his acting debut. “I cannot reveal more details. All I can say is that I play the second lead in this Hindi movie that has been shot in Fort Kochi, Munnar and Alappuzha. And, I am lucky to do this,” he says.

Facing the camera has been a learning experience to the singer. “It was excellent,” he says. “We had some hard working local artistes, too, there. I tried my best to show justice to the role. It was very difficult to face the camera. I learned it observing other actors,” adds the singer, who has been assisting his director friends for the past few months to get an idea about cinema on and off screen. He admits that acting is entirely different from singing. “It is a tough job. Now, I know why actors are paid huge,” he chuckles.

Don’t think that acting has taken away his attention from music. He, who scored his first hit with the Pritam-composed Rabba Main Toh Mar Gaya from the movie Mausam, is currently waiting for the release of his first ever single Tu Hi Mera Rab. Shahid says it is his dream project. “It is a melodious Punjabi-Hindi mix romantic track where a man proclaims his love for his lady. The female lead is played by Sanaa Shaikh, my friend. When I came to know about her passion for acting, I decided to do a video song with her. She is an amazing actor,” says Shahid, an admirer of romantic melodious tracks. He feels that melody is the soul of music. “I like sad songs, too.”

But he loves experimenting in playback singing. He has rendered his voice to peppy numbers in movies like Student of the Year and Two States. “I try different genres.” However, he opines that we should explore indigenous music. “With the internet, now it is easy for us to listen to songs made anywhere in the world. It is good to listen to and appreciate all kinds of songs. At the same time, we should explore our music culture, which is so diverse.”

He also believes that a true musician should be humble. That is one virtue he has learnt from his associations with big shots like Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Amit Trivedi. “Also, music has to be natural and come from one’s mind. Then only, it could connect to the mass,” he feels. Shahid writes and composes for his own projects.

He attributes his fondness to music to his father, who loved Mohammed Rafi. His father could not become a musician as he had wished. Shahid says he is living his father’s dream through his journey. How was it for him to venture into the territory? “It has been tough,” he confesses. He feels the weight of expectations after giving hits. “But, I am not in the rat race. I follow my pace,” concludes the singer, hoping his single will catch mass’ attention.