Having won it all, he wishes to win hearts now
Indian Idol 10 winner Salman Ali has already debuted as a playback singer in films with ‘Sab Badhiya Hai’ for ‘Sui Dhaga’, sung for TV shows ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and ‘Vignaharta Ganesh’ and is doing music shows all over the country.
Indian Idol 10 winner Salman Ali has already debuted as a playback singer in films with ‘Sab Badhiya Hai’ for ‘Sui Dhaga’, sung for TV shows ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and ‘Vignaharta Ganesh’ and is doing music shows all over the country.
During the course of the show, several music composers offered to collaborate with him. Without sharing details he said, “I have already sung for two films which people will come to know about soon. More projects are also in the pipeline but I am not allowed to speak about them. Inshaallah, I will get a chance to sing with everyone…jinke saath bhi kaam karoonga, woh meri khush-naseebi hogi (Whoever I get to work with, it will entirely be my good fortune)!”
In an upcoming children’s singing reality show, Superstar Singer, he will be seen as a mentor.
But one show changed everything for Salman. “Allah ka shukra hai ki meri life ab bahut achhi ho gayi hai. Ghar mein kisi cheez ke kami nahi hai (By the grace of God, the quality of my life has improved tremendously and now there is nothing lacking in the household). I am now settled in Delhi and I have called my family too. The biggest happiness is that my parents are very happy. I keep travelling to Mumbai and other cities to record and to perform,” he said.
Ali has been singing since he was a six-year-old. “I am not able to undertake any formal training for now but I do my practise regularly. I try to keep learning something or other from all guni-jana (experts) I meet. There is no end to learning but then I want to start learning afresh. Whatever I have learned so far has been from my parents, family and the rest is whatever I have inherited from my fore-fathers. Music runs in our blood, as we have been a family of gaane-bajene waale for generations— Mirasi Khandhan,” said the reality star.
Spelling out his success mantra, he said, “One should stick to one’s own zone but must be capable of singing all types of songs, as in a competition, you will be given different challenges. Like my zone is Sufi, ghazal, qawwali and sad songs but then I should be able to do justice to any song that is offered to me. Gana dil pe goli ke tarah lagna chahiye…jismen waah nahi aah nikle (The song should pierce your heart like a bullet, where you are forced to exclaim at the beauty of it)!
He suggests budding singers to first undergo proper training and reach a level before taking a plunge. One should not take the plunge with half-learning. Once they reach a certain stage, they should go all out. “I did a children’s reality show too but I kept on learning and preparing myself. I held myself back for the last few years and kept waiting for the right opportunity,” said the singer and added that the auditions for the upcoming children’s show will be held in Lucknow on April 1 at Chancellors Club.
He wants to do private albums but films are more on his mind. “I am doing lot of live concerts across the country as people have given me a lot of love, so I want to impress them with my film songs and private albums. I am yet to work on private songs, as right now my concentration is on concerts and the upcoming TV show.”
The singer missed his mentor Anu Malik who was later removed from the show due to #MeToo allegations. “I am in touch with everyone and everyone has given my lot of love. Anuji loved me a lot and he gave me my first song that I sang for Varun Dhawan.”
Ali said he just wants to win hearts in whatever form it may be. “When I came, I just wanted to perform from the heart and win everyone’s heart! I did not have competition with anybody. I never imagined that I would be able to get so much love, votes and become Indian Idol. Now, I just want to entertain them with my songs,” he said.