Lucky Ali: Don't believe in treating music education like academics

A favourite of the favourites in Bollywood, Lucky Ali - set to embark on a two-city tour - says he isn't as dedicated to music as today's kids are

In an era that saw an array of singers fade away from the limelight as quickly as they came into it, Lucky Ali could well be termed as a phenomenon that survived way past the '90s. We aren't sure if Ali, like many of his then contemporaries, worked hard to stay relevant. Ironically, we don't think he is either. "I've not given that much time to music," he says simply when we ask him about his upcoming tour touted to mark the decades he has spent as a musician. "I should have been some kind of a genius by now, but I'm not. My dedication [towards music] isn't as close to that that some of the kids today have. [I'm not] where I should have been, in terms of a musician, if we [label it with] years."

Our half-hour-long chat is punctuated with a generous dose of self-critical comments of similar nature. Yet, we aren't sure if the singer's statements stem from self-doubt or are merely laced with sarcasm, an attack, maybe, at the industry's notion of success. If you'd ask us, we'd pick the latter. For, it's hard to believe that Ali wouldn't be aware of the admiration he enjoys owing to his talent. Untouched by Bollywood's definition of a commercially successful singer, Ali, even in his subdued tone, screams of being a musician who is constantly in search of that 'something' which every true artiste seeks. "I am still learning; what will I teach?" he says, addressing a question on raising abled musicians. "My capabilities lie in recognising the solution required to address a particular situation. For instance, if there is a teacher who can conduct a master-class, and I know that certain kids will benefit from his techniques, I play the bridge in that scenario. Teaching, for me, would be promoting teachers to teach students, and promoting students to work together. I don't believe in the idea of treating music education like academics. It should be like a Gurukul. Fortunately, there are established musicians willing to share their technique at any time, and to any student."

As for himself, Ali reiterates that much of his learning takes place from those he works with; people he's been associated with for as long as two decades. "Learning is essentially finding ways to be predictive when you're playing. I understand the language my team speaks. And they know that I understand that. I may not have the academic qualification [in music], but, I can sing whatever [notes] is put in front of me. A lot of them [teammates] perform Hindustani classical music, and for them to have the patience to deal with me is something."

For someone who had reportedly stated that he prayed that God kept Bollywood away from him, Ali hasn't quite been able to distance himself from the adulation of the industry's revered artistes. Walking out from his concerts, the brightest of Bollywood find themselves thinking about him when naming those that inspire them He reciprocates their love without a second thought – "I love them. I love Lata aunty [Mageshkar] and Asha aunty [Bhosle], and all the aunties in Bollywood. The industry game me a lot of love. But, nothing calls back. I don't have time for their stories. They are too long. When they come [to me with a request for a song], they want me to hear the entire script. I don't have the patience for that. [An artiste] wants to generate something that is an expression of him. I don't find them creative and exciting enough. I like story tellers, and I don't find them [in Bollywood]. They're either very angry, or totally in love, which is the opposite end [of the spectrum]. No progressive movie is being made," says the singer, also going on to point out how Bollywood's music tours are far distanced from his own.

"When these guys go on a concert, say a Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or an Amitabh Bachchan concert, they take Bollywood with them. There will be one song with one heroine, another with a second, and then some mimicry. We don't do that. We are storytellers. We take people on an experience with a story we generate. So, what is expected of us is different. This is an experience that's inspired by what we got from our parents, cinema and music."

Even ahead of the October 6 event in Mumbai's Shanmukhananda Hall, Ali speaks of the employment of technology in his forthcoming shows with childlike enthusiasm. "The idea is to create an immersive experience with the stories that we tell you. For instance, if I'm performing on O Sanam, I'll take you back to that [moment]. If I want to introduce you to my father on stage, I'll bring him in on stage, interact and perform with him [via projection technology]."

On offer, he says, will be a mix of the assorted work he has done over the years. "I pick my popular tracks from my first album and then move on to some of the stuff I did in Bollywood. But, on stage, we interpret [the songs] differently. It won't be the way you heard it in the album."

An album with an international production label is something he's unwilling to discuss about in length just yet. However, he does leave us with this information: "It's a collaboration we've done with an Israeli artiste. It has work in Hindi, English, Arabic and Hebrew."

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