When a song becomes a success, it is mostly
the actor, who is the face of the song, who enjoys the limelight. Having said
that, even the singer gets his/her share of glory, and more importantly,
exposure in the music industry. Similar is the story of Nakash Aziz who, until
recently, has been the voice of many of actor Shahid Kapoor’s popular songs and
is now making waves for the very popular ‘Selfie Le Le Re’ from the film,
‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. Eight years in the music industry, for Nakash, every day
is part of a learning process.
Born in a musical family in Mangalore, he
is the only son of Naushad and Shamshad Aziz. His father, and uncle Amirjan
were famous as sound-alikes of Kishore Kumar and Mukesh respectively, in
Mangalore. “We used to have an annual musical where my father, uncle, cousin
brother and I used to perform in a family band. Music brought us together as a
family and kept us rooted. However, I was not pressured to take up music as a
career but I knew I could depend on it as a career,” says Nakash, who has now
moved to Mumbai with his parents.
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Nakash is an Indian playback singer and
music composer who assisted composer A R Rahman on films like ‘Highway’,
‘Raanjhanaa’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Delhi 6’ and ‘I’ (Hindi). He is also popularly known
for playback for songs like ‘Saree Ke Fall Sa’ and ‘Gandi Baat’ from the film
‘R… Rajkumar’ and ‘Dhating Nach’ from ‘Phata Poster Nikhla Hero’.
Starting off in Bollywood, he
differentiates between what people in the industry call a learning experience
and a struggle. “Bollywood has been kind and generous to me as good work
receives more generosity. I look at Bollywood more as a learning process
because you have to understand how it works and where you fit in to work more
efficiently. Bollywood is like a well oiled machine and you are a part that makes
it work,” explains Nakash.
He longed for the chance to meet his idol A
R Rahman, never fathoming that he would end up working with him. “A friend and
I waited back in the studio so that we could just see him. While that was just
a quick chat, on another occasion, he listened to our music and asked us to
work with him. That is what separates the great from the not-so-great; they are
open to new ideas and have an eye for talent,” says Nakash. A pointer he learnt
from A R Rahman is working throughout the night. “The phone doesn’t ring that
often and it is more quiet and peaceful,” he elaborates.
An interesting hobby that Nakash has
developed while working on his songs is maintaining a lyrics book of songs as a
photo album. “Music Director Viju Shah advised me to have a book when I meet
production houses. I have maintained one for a year now and it has the lyrics
and dates of the meetings and the magical moments when lyrics made a difference
and clicked with the song. It brings back memories of what song your recorded
and the entire experience.”
Enjoying his relaxing stay in Goa, Nakash
is taking time out from the hectic lifestyle in Mumbai. “I knew it was off
season in Goa but I wanted to experience the greenery and peaceful atmosphere
in the rains as it feels like a limited edition of Goa. It is perfect in
comparison to Mangalore.”
