I am music and music is me: Shankar Mahadevan

From the sidelines of his concert in the city, the versatile singer Shankar Mahadevan talks about his love for music, Hyderabad and his upcoming projects
Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan (File | EPS)
Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan (File | EPS)

Known for his Breathless song and a voice that is just music to the ears, Shankar Mahadevan has truly set up a place in the hearts of millions who love to listen to his melodious voice. He has lend voices to several songs in Bollywood, Tollywood and Tamil movies and doesn’t need any introduction. As he performs in Hyderabad, we get in touch with him in a freewheeling chat about the ever growing music industry, the concert and much more.

Talking about the concert that was held at Shilpakala Vedika on Friday, he says, “We are excited about the show, this is a very special set of people with whom I am playing, one is the maestro Shivamani, and the other is Stephen Devassi and both are masters in their own instruments and forms of music. The three of us perform as Yes Triangle — a combination of fusion music and popular music. We perform songs that are super hits but present it in a new way. New dimensions, new arrangements and completely open ended, because we three are improvising musicians.

So, every time we play songs like Dil Chahta Hai, the arrangements will be completely different. Also we perform in multiple languages like Tamil, Telugu and that is what Yes Triangle is best known for.” Further adding about his love for the city, Shankar says “Hyderabad is one of the most beautiful cities and I think it is one of our favourite cities because it is full of youth, a lot of tech, beautiful food, extremely cosmopolitan and forward thinking people who embrace any form of music. I have come here and performed as a Bollywood musician, fusion musician, classical musician and the audience they embrace them all. Moreover, since it’s a tech hub, people from all over the country are present. Because of that, cross-cultural musical genres also exists here and people enjoy all forms of music.”

The music industry is growing day by day and we have got a lot of new talents coming up bringing with them their unique music. According to Shankar, the younger lot are much focused, very dedicated, technical and absolutely sound. “They know what they are doing and many of them compose, write their songs, record and produce their own songs. It is a very intelligent lot of artists and now is the time where music is not only film music but also independent music is emerging in a big way because of the direct access to fans with the digital platform and the time is fantastic for upcoming artists.” 

Born into music
Shankar’s life is full of musical memories. “My life is made up of musical memories. But one memory if I could recall is when I got an opportunity to play in the legendry band, Shakti and I toured with them for 20 years. That is one memory which I will never forget. Music is just an extension of me. I am music and music is me. Music is me because I see music, melody and rhythm around me.”

Upcoming projects
Giving a little details about his upcoming projects he says, “Quite a few things are happening. Akshay Kumar starrer Samrat Prithiviraj released today and we are doing Zoya Akhtar’s next direction The Archies, Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Manekshaw biopic along with a film with Aamir Khan. A lot of work is happening with my academy as well, we are expanding it. We are already in 88 counties — we are trying to teach music to people all over the world,” the singer concludes.

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