 |
| Boman Irani and Shankar Mahadevan perform at Taj Bengal. Pictures by Rashbehari Das |
A guitar around his neck and a song on his lips, that is not how you expect Bollywood’s favourite funnyman to steal the spotlight. But surprise, surprise! Boman Irani and Shankar Mahadevan have been city-hopping with events dedicated to music and laughs for Teacher’s Origin Highnights.
It was Calcutta’s turn on the evening of June 23, with the duo talking about their beginnings, picking on guests, creating live melodies and singing soulful songs at Taj Bengal.
“Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, they’re the children of Amar-Akbar-Anthony!” declared Boman to the delight of the crowd that included Usha Uthup, actress Pallavi, Bickram Ghosh and wife Jaya.
Boman also let slip that his Einstein-like character Virus in 3 Idiots was inspired by “Javed Akhtar’s lisp and Alyque Padamsee’s walk!”
The evening got merrier with Boman’s much awaited singing act.
Kicking off with a fun take on We Are The World, he then impressed with his rendition of Give Me Some Sunshine. Shankar belted out Maa and Breathless before blending into Boman’s low baritone for a duet combining Frank Sinatra’s My Way and Kal ho naa ho.
t2 caught up with the two for a freewheeling chat moments before the show…
How did you unearth Boman, the singer?
Shankar: I actually saw Boman singing when he was three years old!
Boman: Yes he did…
S: Just kidding! I had heard him perform at a couple of events we did together and I knew he had fantastic talent.
Did you always have a flair for singing?
B: I like to sing but I really didn’t know if I was a confident-enough singer.
S: I’ll tell you what… he has a fantastic voice with a fantastic feel.
B: Sexy bol na...
S: Ya, sexy of course! You can hear it even when he speaks.
Have you ever trained?
B: Not really. In school you learn all the songs you sing on stage — so a lot of old Broadway musical numbers like The Impossible Dream, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Danny Boy and My Way. Then you grow up and think you’ve become cooler and learn a different type of music. And finally you come back to this type of music. I used to love Neil Diamond at one point. Elvis was huge for me. Then Paul Simon and the way he wrote.
Do you guys exchange notes?
S: We’ve been discussing and Boman’s very focused on the little things that I tell him but I can’t discuss those, they’re very private!
B: I’ll tell you what he gives me tips on. ‘See Boman, tomorrow we’re going to Hyderabad, we must have biryani. In Calcutta we’re going to have chingri.’ And therefore we’ve had the most sumptuous lunch of Bhetki Paturi, Hilsa Bhapa and Golda Chingri Malai Curry. You can tell from our eyes!
S: And then we crashed and woke up thoroughly inspired.
B: But jokes apart, after every show I have to ask Shankar if I managed to follow his instructions.
S: And he gives me tips on speaking. Singers when made to speak are very nervous. So there’s a lot of love out there, almost like a mutual admiration society and that’s what keeps it going.
B: I think whether it’s acting, singing or doing anything at all, the moment you do it to get noticed you lose focus. The joy of performance should take precedence over everything else. Singing, acting, stand-up comedy, they’re basically stuff that I did for my friends in college and parties that I’m doing now as a profession.
What about nerves?
B: To tell you the truth, I revel on stage. I really like the idea of the spotlight. But when you’re singing with someone of Shankar’s calibre and his range and depth as a musician it does make you nervous. But the moment I take off and he smiles back at me, I know it’s going well and I feel proud.
S: A little bit of nervous energy is good before a show. Once we get on stage we’re very comfortable.
How did you pick your songs for the evening?
B: I decided what he’s going to sing and he decided what I have to. No seriously, it was a very collaborative effort although I wasn’t going to do We Are The World…
S: We forced him to do it.
B: It’s a fun take on the song.
S: Before the very first show we had a couple of meetings where we conceptualised the whole thing including a version of My Way with Kal ho naa ho.
B: It’s the last song that we perform. It’s very touching and a funny moment when it doesn’t matter what we’re singing. The audience and the performers are in the same zone. We choose to sit in the audience and make friends rather than make grand entries. By the end of it we’ve had a party with friends.
So is it going to be serious singing from now on?
B: I’ve been begging and pleading Shankar but he’s not listening.
S: Of course. For starters we’re planning to record our version of My Way.
B: I’ve done some playback for obscure movies here and there.
S: I think he should do it more often.
B: I’d like to do playback for Shankar Mahadevan some day!
S: Has your wife heard you?
B: That’s how I trapped her. I sang to her ‘Your Way! We’ll Do It Your Way!’ She said yes and she sang out, ‘We’ll Do It My Way!’
Would you have time for riyaaz?
B: I sang Give Me Some Sunshine at the IIFA Awards in Colombo this year, but before that I recorded myself to hear myself and it wasn’t great. So I hired a teacher, Marianne D’Cruz. She opened up my voice and helped me with my breathing and pitching. We’ve recorded a session, which I have on my laptop so before any show I go through that.
S: He’s got it in him already so all one needs to do is play and sing everyday. Techniques and breathing, all that can be taught but each one has his own style.
Any common musical likes and dislikes?
B: I don’t like rap.
S: I do.
B: I don’t like it when it gets too noisy and I can’t even hear myself speak.
S: I have a problem with that too. I make music that people dance to but when I go out for an evening I don’t want to hear it!
A song that you love…
B: I love The Impossible Dream very much. It’s a very uplifting song from a musical called Man of La Mancha. It has some beautiful words.
S: I love old Hindi songs. One would be Abhi na jao chhor kar.
And ones that you loathe…
S: Many songs from the Eighties, I hate.
B: Yeah, solid songs! With lyrics like Kya gaadi hai, kya number hai, kya body hai, kya bumper hai! Crack a dirty joke, it’s ok but don’t put it to music, that’s hurtful.