Before taking the stage at The Telegraph Xmas Eve at The Saturday Club, Mohit Chauhan was a picture of calm. He walked into the Wood Street club’s Room No. 1 on the first floor a little before 10pm, took at least a dozen pictures and selfies and chatted with t2. 

You have performed in Calcutta many times. Is the city among your favourites?

I think it is. I love the language over here, the Bangla. I have a lot of Bengali friends… Today for lunch I had Aloo Posto!

Your grandfather was into music… 

Yeah, but not professionally. He was into civil services... a magistrate, but he would sing for himself at home. He would sing thumri, mountain folk music, Himachali folk…. And he mentioned once to me that music is for the soul. He was not really in favour of making music your living. In those times music was something that was very personal and esoteric. But times have changed…. 

What are your first memories of a song?

I would come back from school… I was in sixth or seventh class… I was in Kullu… a quaint little place with beautiful mountains and apple orchards… I would come home and have lunch after school. And my elder brother would turn on All India Radio Shimla and there’d be Kishore Kumar and other Hindi film songs playing. Then on Friday and Saturday nights, there was a lot of western music on All India Radio. I really remember that. Mountains have this thing of solitude... quaint beautiful blue skies and you are listening to a strange new song on the radio. That invokes certain things inside you. 

Don’t you feel a little lost in a city then?

To be honest, I do. 

Do you want to go back to the mountains?       

Yes, I keep talking about it all the time. I do go back, but then I cannot really go back for good. Sometimes, I feel like spending a couple of months, but I end up spending only 15 days, but that is something I have at the top of my head, to be able to spend more time in the mountains. 

Do you think you’d be a better musician if you were in the mountains?

I don’t know, but it’s definitely a space where you can create more music. Mostly music is inside you, wherever you are.... My connect with the mountains, apart from the fact that I was born over there, is with the solitude and the effect that nature has on you, nature which is pure and not sullied by too much of traffic, pollution and people…. If you walk in the mountains for 20 minutes, you are suddenly in a place where there is no one around you, or walk up the hill and you meet somebody on the road, you wave, smile and walk on. There is a lot of open space. That turns me on creatively. In the cities, solitude is at a premium. You step out of the house and there is no place where there is a distance of 3ft between you and the other person. 

How do you select a song?

For a film song, I don’t have a big choice…. 

But no item number…

(Laughs) I don’t mind singing an item number, though. I am a musician and I love singing all kinds of songs. When Rahmansaab (A.R. Rahman) calls me, a lot of times I don’t even know what kind of song I’ll get. And, that’s something of a mystery to me. When I am travelling, I keep thinking about it... is it going to be a groovy song or is it going to be a flowy song... is it going to be difficult or is it going to be slow? 

You will sing any song that A.R. Rahman offers you?

Of course! He is like my guru. It’s amazing working with Rahmansaab.  

What are your earliest memories of an A.R. Rahman song?

I heard A.R. Rahman for the first time when Roja released and before that I had heard a little bit of the Thiruda Thiruda music through some of my friends in Delhi, but when Roja came out, I went to the theatres for the music. That’s the time Silk Route was being formed...

And the music must have completely blown you away?

It did! And also the movie was shot in Himachal Pradesh. And his music had that soul. So, when they show beautiful, snowy mountains juxtaposed with his music… it has that effect. He has that mastery. I met him in the late ’90s in Delhi at an awards show. 

And you said? 

Namaskar! (Laughs) I told him that I love his music. That evening Silk Route had been nominated for four awards I think. We won in three categories. When I was coming down with the third award, Rahmansaab said: ‘Congratulations! I like your style’. He asked me whether I had sung in a film. I said no and thought I would now sing for him, but that opportunity came a few years later (Rang De Basanti).

Where does the magic of A.R. Rahman lie?

It lies in the freedom of his music. It is not bound by anything. It surprises you and he is not scared. He gives you a lot of leeway. In Masakali, all the laughter you hear in the song — sometimes I have this habit of adding my own thing in a song. He liked it, so he kept it. 

Another long-time collaborator of yours is Imtiaz Ali…

He is again a dear friend of mine and he is making beautiful films. He is also not scared of making what he wants to make. He is that kind of a guy, you know. He also has a keen sense of music. Some of my best songs I have sung for Imtiaz. He is present at recordings. For the Rockstar songs… me, Irshad (Kamil; lyricist) and Imtiaz… we were all together for all the songs, day and night. So, I saw the songs being written in front of me… being given a different direction, then changing again. That process itself is beautiful, it’s creative. You really enjoy being part of it. 

Do you enjoy Bollywood? 

Bollywood is definitely overwhelming because Bollywood has the budget. Television these days is only following the commercial part of it. I pay you money, you play my songs. I am fortunate to be a part of Bollywood because my songs reach out to many more people, but I was also fortunate to have made songs like Dooba dooba and been part of a band. That way as a musician I feel happy that I am a part of both scenarios. 

So do you miss the Silk Route days?

Yes, I do! Those were the times when indie music was playing a lot on television. That was very cool and I was part of a band and being part of a band is great fun because you make music together, travel together and you chill out together. It’s like a family. I miss that bonding and that creative process that happens in the middle of the night, you know. 

Do you see yourself forming another band?

I definitely think about it sometimes. It plays on my mind… if I find the right kind of people. For a band, not only do you need good musicians but also people who want to walk the same direction. 

MOHIT DEFINES 10 T2 FAVOURITES 

Guncha koi: Night time
Khoon chala: Fire
Tum se hi: Memories
Kuch khaas: The present
Dooriyan: Pritam
Tu ne jo na kaha: A traveller song
Te amo: Love and longing
Nadaan parindey: Baba Farid’s kalam
Masakali: My love
Matargashti: Happiness

TUNED INTO NOW

Wild Horses by Rolling Stones 
JJ Cale’s Call Me The Breeze
Ghulam Ali

Saionee Chakraborty
Which is your favourite Mohit Chauhan song? Tell t2@abp.in