Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

The Viking! Neeraj Sridhar

If you feel there is an overdose of Neeraj, you aren’t entirely wrong. ‘Pyar Ke Side Effects,’ ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom,’ ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd,’ ‘Bhool Bhulaiya,’ ‘Goal,’ ‘Heyy Baby,’ ‘Krazzy 4,’ ‘Race’…phew! And the list goes on.

“The going has been good, considering that Bollywood was not on my radar,” says Neeraj.

“Not that I had anything against singing in films but I didn’t think the industry had a place for my kind of a voice. People felt I didn’t have a macho voice,” reasons Neeraj.He does consider himself lucky to have got the right breaks, but takes some credit for his success as well. “I have worked really hard. So there is bound to be result. It is not easy to sustain yourself amid tough competition. And to think of it I have been in the music industry since 1999,” he says candidly.

The influx of new talent doesn’t hassle him, for his philosophy of life is clear. “I believe everybody has their period. Today is mine, tomorrow it will be someone else’s,” is how Neeraj sees it. He adds, “There’s more to me than just a singer. I have other skills to fall back on. I am a complete musician. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves.”

He continues to talk about his Bollywood venture, and suddenly comes a confession. “I know I am not a great singer. I am okay. I was a better singer three years ago, when I used to practise everyday. There are many singers much better than me.”

First you wonder whether these are just some random thoughts, but you believe him when he says, “more than my voice what I lend to a song is an attitude and a character, which I feel only I can give. And that’s what brings music directors to me. I think I am a title track guy.” You can hear his ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ running in your mind as he says that. “Whatever anyone may think, I have taken music as a business. I will do whatever I can to make it succeed. But that doesn’t mean I am recording four songs in a day. I am only doing as much as I can handle,” explains Neeraj.

Has he forgotten his band from Sweden, Bombay Vikings, in all this rush? He assures not.

“We are working on our next album, which should be out by August. But I am not able to give it time. I should finish it when I visit Stockholm in July. We have worked with a lot of international artistes in this one.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail