Indian singer Iman Chakraborty talks triumphs, trolls, and haters in Dubai

Gulf News

In an interview, the National Award-winning singer opens up on battling stereotypes  Read the full story here:   See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km

Transcript

00:00I feel alive. See, some days are very low. You know, you feel very low. You're tired.

00:06But while I'm on stage, I don't know what comes to me. I don't know from where that power comes to me that

00:13I have to give my best. And every stage, you know, while I'm getting on the stage, before I'm

00:20getting on the stage, I always think that this is my last performance that I'm giving.

00:26And that gives me a lot of strength.

00:32This industry, music industry is generally very, very competitive, Iman. I remember reading a

00:37report that just came in with one of your own peers saying, perhaps you're insecure about

00:42not getting enough work. And you said, no, that's not true. So you know, perhaps you're insecure.

00:47So is there a lot of like, how difficult is it to survive? I'm like, when your own turns against you,

00:51what do you do? How did you manage that?

00:56There are so many young stars that are coming up, and they are very well equipped.

01:01They know how to handle Instagram. They know how to handle YouTube. For me, I was very laid back.

01:09I was not into social media. But right now, I totally understand how Instagram is important

01:19for your business. So, you know, you have to keep on making reels.

01:30You're making reels, you're cutting reels, and you're putting it on your social media.

01:36These are all hassle. I mean, I am not pro. So I have a good team who takes care of it.

01:44And I am paying them. They're doing it on behalf of me. But yes, nowadays music, see, but you know,

01:53on the other hand, music is very pure.

02:04You have to be very proper. You have to be very serious.

02:14I'm a student of music, and I will always be a student of music.

02:23Okay, so Riyaz is very, very important. You're very disciplined.

02:28I try to be because

02:33if you're a musician, you can't live life like others. So a particular time you have to have

02:42food, you have to go to bed, you have to exercise, you vocal exercise as well as physical

02:50fitness is also very important. For that many hours, not easy. Oh, yeah. Oh, yes. Because

02:57before coming to Dubai, I was I was floating to the United States. And I was traveling to coast

03:04to coast.

03:26So it was really that easy. The life is not easy. But yet you have to be on shape

03:33and performance up 100%. This is the life of a musician.

03:39Of course. No, no, I really like that. Because I think everywhere any musician that has survived

03:44for decades, there's a lot of discipline. Like I remember was it KS Chitra, Yashoda, you talk to

03:50any A. R. Rahman, they're all disciplined. There is no doubt about it. They are not abusing their

03:55voice. They don't drink even cold water. They're so like, they're so they treat their body and

03:59their voice as an instrument for you. Is it like that as well? Like your body?

04:05I try to do sometimes. Last night, my husband is a he is like, he loves to eat chocolates. He'll

04:14he loves to ice creams. So last last night, we had a team meeting and after the team meeting,

04:21suddenly

04:43Okay, but there is a bit of fun you have. It's lovely that you talk. Your husband seems to be

04:48like the wind beneath your wings. Both of you work very well together, I think, right? You guys

04:53play badminton, a very wholesome couple, I must add. Yeah, I'm lucky in that way. Of course. How

04:59did you meet him? What was it like? Was it like, did you make him sing? Did you audition him? How

05:04did it happen? No, no, no. I had a recording. At his studio, I went I was a bit late. He was very

05:13disgusted because I was late. And then

05:33Sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't hear the last bit. Yeah.

05:44that time, of course. And I met Zakir Hussain at a concert. After the concert, I went to Zakir

05:53Hussain and suddenly he saw me and he kissed on my hand.

06:06So I suddenly called him.

06:08At 4am in the morning, I called him and I told him, do you want to tell me something?

06:14Just listen to me for a while. I'll hang up after that. He heard me and he indulged. And that's the

06:22way we started. So Zakir Hussain has blessed us. Oh, that is good. Oh, that is so nice.

06:32I mean, do you have a lot of mentors as well? Is that how it works in this industry? Like,

06:36do you look up to people or is it very clannish? Like everybody does their own thing? How is it

06:41with you? Like in your experience? I have my gurus who really teach me well.

07:07I don't have any internal student. I feel that only when you are a student, you can go forward. Otherwise,

07:16it's very difficult. If you think that you're a star, you have a stardom, you have people to

07:23take care of, then you're gone. So you need to act like a student all the time. And I always try to

07:30do that. Right. Iman, when you won the National Award for your first movie, the second one is so

07:36important as well, right? How do you top something that has already reached a pinnacle, right?

07:41Were you very worried? Were you at that point a bit like, oh, my God, people have already seen

07:45my best, have they? Was there a lot of pressure for you? Because it's not easy when you taste it

07:50so quickly, right? Because National Award, people wait years, like decades before they actually get

07:57one. I felt that this too shall pass. National Award, in my career, it came as a blessing.

08:14I have never thought that in my first playback, I would get a National Award. But when I got that,

08:23I didn't think much about it. I really didn't think about it too much. Oh, I got a National Award.

08:33Look, I got one National Award, Shreya got six National Awards. So this is just a reward.

08:42The best reward an artist can get is the love of their audience. This is the best award

08:50I have got in my life.

08:53In terms of your future projects as well, Iman, is there anything you would love to tell us as well,

08:57so that we can update your fans about it? Because it's not easy to keep reinventing.

09:02You can't be the same. So can you tell us in future, what do you hope to achieve?

09:10Look, I have never gone to anyone to ask for work.

09:13Luckily, whatever has come on my path during my journey, like Neena said, I'm not a choose-and-picky

09:27that I want to do this, I don't want to do that. Whatever is coming, I'm doing it. People are loving it.

09:35Not every song is a blockbuster. It's not possible. So I have to have some volume of work.

09:42After 20 years, I can show myself that, wow, you have 10,000 or 20,000 songs.

09:50That volume of work I have to make. And I really want to expand.

10:03I have a small production house.

10:12I don't get the satisfaction. The songs that are my super hits, so-called.

10:18Yeah, the so-called super hits, yes.

10:22It's possible that I'm not getting that pleasure from that song.

10:28So from my production house, I always try to do some experimental work.

10:34So I have to do that as well. I have to teach, because I'm also into teaching.

10:40I have to teach my students. I have to expand my legacy. I have so many things to do.

10:48So I always dream big and really acting accordingly.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended