|
His unassuming demeanour and the
boy-next-door look belies the cult status he commands in the world
of music in North-Eastern India. The latest craze of the sufi-toned
number Ya Ali from
 Mukesh
Bhatt’s film Gangster has only proved that 33-year-old Zubin Garg
has arrived! Of course, when melody queen Lata Mangeshkar says
that your voice is "soulful and heart touching", it’s only the
icing on the cake!
A writer, producer and director, actor (his film Dinabandhu got
the National Award in 2005), singer and musician, Zubin’s journey
delineates a great struggle and a great success story. He’s sung
more than 7,000 songs in various languages including Hindi, Tamil,
Telugu, Punjabi, Oriya, Marathi, Nepali etc. "Like everyone, I too
had my share of struggle when I came to Mumbai in 1995. I had to
sing for many people for very little money. But I never got
frustrated as I would travel back to the North-East where success
helped me withstand the financial shortfall in Mumbai," he says.
Zubin never intended to pursue a full-time career in Mumbai till
Ya Ali happened even though he has sung for A R Rahman, (Dil Se)
Anu Malik, (Aan) Anand Raj Anand (Kaante), Ranjit Barot (Fiza)
Jatin Sharma and Dhrubajyoti Phukan amongst others. "Pritam,
(who’s composed music for Dhoom and Gangster) thought only I could
do justice to the track," he says.
Now, Zubin has been flooded with offers from big production houses
like Bhatt’s next Woh Lamhe (based on Parveen Babi’s life), PNC’s
next, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Smita Thackeray’s new venture and
Onir’s Bas Ek Pal, to name a few. "In my 12 years of singing, I
have sung in almost every language in the North-East. Now I need a
wider focus and bigger challenges," he says.
In the plethora of singers, how important does he think it is to
find your own ground? "I don’t believe in being the ‘flavour of
the month’ and churning out 100 songs at one go. I would rather
sing 10 good songs and be remembered for it," he smiles. Zubin has
also composed music for Sanjay Jha’s film, Strings. He also plans
to release his Hindi album - an experimentation with Assamese folk
western music. And then it will be his Hindi directorial debut
film in August. "But music is my soul. I’d be dead without it," he
says.
|
