Shaan: I Miss Listeners Not Accepting that I Can be More Than Just a Playback Singer

From Tanha Dil to Woh Pehli Baar and Gumsum Ho Kyun, singer Shantanu Mukherjee, better known as Shaan, delivered numerous hits in the ’90s and was one of the biggest Indie pop icons. The singer has come up with his new single Majboor Ho Gaye, a song which he thinks will take the listeners back to that era. “I am seeing a back-to-the-roots kind of a trend so I thought why not do something. Majboor Ho Gaye is a fresh melody and not a copied song. At the same time, it has a nice flavour of Indian percussion and the dholak which I haven’t done so far. So it is always nice to try something different. It’s a soothing track that will grow on you. I’m extremely happy with the way it turned out and complete credit to the whole team for believing in a common vision till the very end.”

Shaan says that he always tries to attempt something different, “People say that it’s important to keep doing the same thing as they associate you with that format. But I believe that works from a commercial point of view as your recall is quicker but I am a creative person and not a business guy. I will keep making songs that I enjoy making and Majboor Ho Gaye happened very naturally as the tune came from the lyrics which were really thoughtful.”

In the recent years we have seen many Bollywood actors featuring in various in singles, but Shaan says that he didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of featuring in the video. “I have spent a major part of my life doing playback for other actors so I wanted to be a part of this video. Also, in the past too I have featured in most of my videos and I enjoy the whole process of acting.”

He was only 17 when he started his career as a playback singer in Bollywood. Over the years he is known for his chartbuster tracks including Woh Ladki Hai Kaha, Chand Sifarish, Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh and Jab Se Tere Naina. But in the past few years we haven’t heard much from him. “I don’t miss playback singing. I wish people would not want to listen to me only as a playback singer,” the singer says adding, “What I miss is the listeners not accepting that I can be more than just a playback singer. I am a composer, lyricist, singer who appears in his own singles and that is how I started my journey. I started as an Indie pop artist. I wrote Tanha Dil, I have composed Gumsum Ho Kyun. I am not saying that I won’t do playback but in the meanwhile it is not my identity.”

Shaan says that it is a painful pill to digest when people say that they miss listening to him in Bollywood, “I have been releasing a song almost every couple of months so if they miss me, they can listen to these songs. There is a lot of original music that I am making. In the last three years I have put out more than 20 songs for my own channel apart from singing for other music albums.”

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