DJ Aqeel Ali at The Park on Saturday night. Picture by Rashbehari Das

There’s something about Calcutta. Something very nice, some little thing that draws me to the city again and again. I come here almost every two months,” says DJ Aqeel Ali. But it’s been five months since he last played in the city, for the sake of lovebirds on Valentine’s Day. “Has it really been that long?” he asks, with a sheepish grin. “Oh, I’ve been very busy with shows and many private parties abroad,” he explains.

From “doing nothing” to being anointed the “king of remixes”, it has been a long journey for India’s leading DJ. “I had no clue as to what I would really do in life. My father had a tin factory and I didn’t want to join him,” he recounts.

But why didn’t he try his luck in Bollywood? “Oh, no, no, that’s just not my calling, I never even thought of it. Besides, music was not just something that happened to me one fine day. It has always been there with me, it was within me.”

Aqeel started by playing at private parties. “I requested friends and acquaintances to let me play at their bashes. And that’s how it all began,” admits Aqeel.

After four consecutive hit remix albums, innumerable performances and a loyal clientele boasting names like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Vijay Mallya, MTV, the Godrej, Hinduja and Raheja families, what else can Aqeel ask for?

“Right now, there’s more music lined up. Firstly, there is the record label that I own ? Powerplay Music. Yash Raj does the marketing and distribution; all I do is simply the production. The debut album featured young, talented DJs. Another album is also in the wings... I think DJs Ivan and Vikrant are very bright.”

Aqeel also has plans for his own album. “I have been thinking about it for the past two years but I still don’t have any idea of what will go into it. I want to throw in some originals and some remixes as well. Hopefully, I’ll start working towards the end of the month and the album should be on the stands by October.”

When Aqeel discusses his pet projects, can talk of the open-shut-open case of Poison be far behind? “It didn’t have a licence, that’s all. Nothing else was wrong with the place,” he says of his nightclub in Mumbai. On the night of January 27 when Poison shut down, Aqeel was performing in Davos at the World Economic Forum. “It was one of my worst nights and I played with a vengeance,” he smiles.

Poison is back with a bang. “I played to a packed house on the first Saturday after it reopened on July 5. Now I want to see Poison as an international chain of nightclubs. I have tied up with many international DJs,” he smiles.

And how does Aqeel the DJ define his music? “I try and do my own thing, some beats here and some melodies there. In the end, all it needs is to sound good and get the crowd swaying.”

If there’s one thing about Aqeel that you can never miss, it’s his charm. And if you want more, there’s what he churns out, of course.