Music from the heart

REMEMBER THE Govinda starring music video for "Lift Kara De" from the album "Kabhie Tho Nazar Milao"? The voice belonged to Adnan Sami, the Toronto-based Pakistani singer-composer.

Adnan Sami caught the imagination of Indian audiences with that album that was a melodious collaboration with the versatile Asha Bhonsle, who is "just amazing. It was an educating experience working with her. I feel greatly honoured."

In Chennai recently to participate in the Vijay TV "Ooh La La La" show, Sami looked happy to be in the city "I love Chennai very much. It is rooted in music."

It has been chords and notes all the way for Sami. A child prodigy, he could play the piano at the age of five and was composing when he was just nine! He even performed for BBC Television at that age.

Sami learnt the finer nuances of Western classical music while at the Rugby in England, and also picked up a little bit of jazz. His romance with Hindustani classical began when he chanced upon a recording of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. "I just fell in love with that music." This led to his lessons in Hindustani with the santoor maestro, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.

Though Sami's music is rooted in Western classical, there is a strong Indian classical bent to it, noticed best in the two albums he composed, "Kabhie Tho Nazar Milao" and "Barsaat". Sami has several other albums to his credit, mostly released in Pakistan.

"Both singing and composing are equally demanding careers," the cherubic musician elaborates. "Perhaps the only difference could be that for composing, you need inspiration and that does not come just like that. You need to get into the right mood. Singing too requires a lot of attention, and riyaz (practice)."

The artiste, whom the Swedish Radio and Television Broadcasting had rated as the fastest piano player in the world, ("I don't know all that. I just play"), enjoys listening to Beethoven, Bach, B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and of course, Amjad Ali Khan. "I love Carnatic music too."

Talking about the current Indipop scene, he admits the genre is strongly influenced by Hindi film music... there is a very thin line that divides the two. "One has to accept that film music is the biggest and the most popular genre in India. And there is bound to be some influence."

He cites the example of Hollywood where today, pop songs are vital to films. "Take 'Titanic' or 'Pretty Woman' for that matter. Gone are the days of musicals of the Rogers and Hammerstein or "Fiddler On The Roof" variety. It is the original songs for a film soundtrack that sells."

What will the future of Indipop be? Will it have an international market? "I hope it is still as popular. As it is, Indipop as a genre is slowly getting noticed overseas. I think artistes have to adapt themselves to changing tastes. Madonna, for instance, has come a long way since her "Material Girl" and "Like A Virgin" days. I think Indipop will stay for a long time to come. At least, I am an eternal optimist," says the singer who has the distinction of playing for kings.

Ask him about his oft-written about album with ace singer Hariharan, and he laughs. "I must tell you this. I have never worked with him. I just don't know how this came about. I hasten to add that I would love to work with him and many others."

Adnan Sami is all set for a career in Bollywood. "There are a couple of projects in the offing". He also hopes to release a full-fledged Western classical album "sometime in the future when the time is right." And it is a "no no" to acting offers (There were rumours of Anupam Kher offering him a role in "Om Jai Jagadish").

The most important thing for Adnan Sami is music and its impact on listeners. "You have to be able to communicate emotions through music, that is very important to me. Music must come from the heart. It is a universal language."

SAVITHA GAUTAM

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