Shaan: Up, Close and Personal

“Shaan is in town. Would you like to interview him?”- My editor calls me and I am up and ready in a moment. Shaan is one of my favourites amongst new artists. Braving the afternoon traffic, I reach Dubai from Sharjah and somehow manage to find an elusive parking space in a sandy area.

Walking in the searing Dubai heat at 2.00 p.m. and trying to find an unknown address is not exactly a pleasant experience. But still I go on gamely, asking every third person about the conflicting directions that finally lead to his door. There he is- having a hurried lunch and discussing the script of his forthcoming Sa Re Ga Ma Pa episodes with an assistant director. He graciously offers me the fish fingers and mutton biryani but I politely decline. (It’s my veggie day!)

He finishes his off his lunch and quickly settles on the sofa besides me. We start chatting and it soon evolves into a pleasant, fun-filled conversation. Shaan comes across as a charming person, who is funny, witty and more importantly totally unaffected by fame!

Early Life:

Talking about his early musical influences, Shaan says, “Since my father Maanas Mukherji was a composer, I was exposed to music from early childhood. Even though I never had a formal musical training, the atmosphere itself taught me and my sister Saagarika a lot about Indian film and classical music. Since we stayed in Bandra- a majority Catholic Christian area and studied in Jesuit school, my early exposure was mainly to western music. In the eighties, ghazal wave was there and that also influenced me. So from the beginning, my musical sensitivity was shaped by varied influences.”

Becoming a singer was not a simple task for Shaan. He reminisces about his struggle period- “Our brother- sister team first sang in some ad- jingles. Although, it was not just smooth sailing- in the process of growing up, I still remember my frustrations when my voice cracked up and I couldn’t sing a straight note!”

“Early death of my father made me independent in a way. Those days, I did a lot of things like giving tuitions, selling cable TV connections and dabbling in computers. It was a struggle but it was also fun. One fine day, the realization that I have to make a career as a singer almost suddenly dawned upon me. Jingles and live shows paved the way to my pop and film singing.”<