‘The remix is my way of playing with music’

MTV’s Breakthrough Artist Adnan Sami is happy with all the lift he’s received

SRIKUMAR BONDYOPADHYAY

For a change, here’s a man who’s just what he looks—happy-go-lucky and full of fun. Add to that immense talent and scoops full of luck, and you’ll get a clear picture of Adnan Sami Khan, the hottest name on Indian music charts at the moment. The 28-year-old is the fastest keyboard player in the world and a skilled music composer and singer.

Mr Sami loves to laugh and—even better!—to be laughed at. That’s why his eyes twinkle mischievously as he tells you about the most embarrassing moment of his life. During a stage performance, as he stood before the mike, he found the audience laughing at him. At first, he thought it was his huge girth they were laughing at, so he just smiled back at them. Moments later, he realised he’d forgotten to zip his trousers! “After that day, every time I go on to a stage, I check that my zipper is up,” he chuckles, the dimples lighting up his huge face.

In fact, the dimples and the mischievous smile are an integral part of him, as is his favourite line, “Thanks a million”, which keeps cropping up in his conversation. Was he always naughty and fun loving? “I used to be very mischievous as a child,” Mr Sami recalls. And he still is. You can make that out when he tells you, “I like to see people around me get tired of me.”

And this, he explains, was the whole idea behind the remix music video of his popular Thoda si to lift kara de, which shows scenes from Bollywood hits. Mr Sami explains, “Shatrughan Sinha, Ashok Kumar and Asrani are my favourite Bollywood actors and the movies I’ve picked of theirs for the remix are my all-time favourites—films I’ve grown up with. In the album, I’ve changed the original film dialogues to humorous ones, all of which basically try to show how bored these actors are with my lift kara de appeal.”

Why, despite being the first musician to play Indian classical music on piano, did he cut a re-mix album? He smiles and says with earnest candour, “Don’t read so much into my re-mix. This is my way of playing with music. I’ve simply done what a painter does when he is not doing any serious painting—playing with colour as his brush strokes the paper. And this scratch work at times turns into a good painting. So is the case with this song of mine. When I don’t do any serious music composition or riyaz, I play with music and find pleasure in mixing things.”

No, he doesn’t come from a musical family, in case you are wondering. Born in England to a Pakistani father and Indian mother, Mr Sami was just another boy. He explains, “Music is not really a family thing, but we had an old piano at our home. When I was a kid, I simply liked pressing the keys, each of which gave a different sound and I guess that is what really fascinated me.”

After that he studied music at his school, it being a part of the curriculum in England. A gifted musician as he was, Adnan got noticed by BBC for his skill at the piano and got his first break with them in a TV programme. What happened after that is history. Mr Sami’s Kabhi To Nazar Milao, an album he cut with Asha Bhosle, was a phenomenal success. Lift kara de was a part of the album. In fact, the album has remained a top seller on MTV’s India charts for a record breaking 67 consecutive weeks since it hit the market in June last year. MTV has now felicitated Adnan Sami as its Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Did the award give him the ‘lift’ he was looking for? Bursting into laughter, he confesses, “Yes, it is really a great feeling”, and then on a slighter more serious note, “The award is a recognition of my effort, my struggle.”

Mr Sami’s definite that he doesn’t want to get stereotyped. “I want to sing songs in different moods, different styles—I don’t want to become hostage to formula songs,” he says. At present, he is working on another album, which will be similar to the earlier one—light music essentially.

Suppose he had not been a singer and composer? “I’d have been a lawyer,” he says, explaining further lest anyone wonders, “I had done a full year of LLB after completing my graduation in journalism. But then I felt that carrying on with my law course was taking a toll of my music and riyaz. So, I quit law and devoted myself full-time to music.” Lucky us!