The clock strikes four p.m. as I spot Daler Mehdi standing inside Bur Juman’s Bang and Olaffsen showroom along with Shashi Gopal- the music baron who practically launched the Indipop revolution in the nineties with his Magnasound label and his young son- Aditya, the managing director of the new music-company Dnuo Sangam (That’s Magnasound backwards!). Together, they are checking the sound of the latest B&O hi-fi music-system that looks straight out of some science fiction movie. As I walk in, the trio greets me warmly and makes me listen to a few tracks of their forthcoming music album Destiny (that presents Daler with Hariharan), in the process making me the privileged first listener. The sound that I hear is quite different from the usual peppy, rhythm-driven Daler- stuff. It is mellow and melodious. Later as we settle down in Starbucks coffee shop, a calm and confident Daler, clad in a bright orange and black outfit, speaks in Punjabi-flavoured Hindi about his career, controversies and this new venture.
The sound of this new album seems quite soulful and soothing. It is quite a departure from your energetic Bhangra-pop routine.
I wanted to do something different from my popular image as a Bhangra-pop singer. In fact, I wanted to do this much earlier but couldn’t do it. Every artiste wants to explore different facets of his art and singing such melodious songs along with a veteran master like Hariharan was just the perfect project for me.
What was the experience of working with Hariharan?
Before we embarked on this venture, I had met Hari-ji only once and that too very briefly. But still when we started working together it seemed as if we knew each other for years. He has trained under Patiala gharana of music and so have I. Both of us love to sing Mehdi Hassan’s ghazals. So at core, our music is same- even though I am considered as a Bhangra-pop singer and he is considered a ghazal crooner. It was great fun working together. There were no ego hassles, just pure camaraderie.
At the recently concluded IIFA awards, when we performed together on stage, the audiences couldn’t believe that a brand new song was being performed live by two artists from such different images. It was a unique experiment and the applause was simply amazing.
Kesariya Balam