LUCKY ALI

Third time lucky?

With his unique music and his unique, nasal voice, Lucky Ali has become the pop icon of India. His third album Aks was released by Sony Music recently, where the singer-composer makes music reflecting on his past and present...

When Lucky Ali performed at a concert in the atrium of a hi-fi shopping mall in Mumbai recently, on the occasion of the release of his new album Aks, the euphoria among the crowd of teeny-boppers had to be seen to be believed. It was almost the same crowd-reaction as witnessed when an internationally renowned Western artist performs. Besides the usual demand for an encore after each number, the crowd was very much with Lucky, singing each line of his song with him, and clapping their hands.

So India’s had a pop icon at last. But instead of revelling in the glory, Lucky has decided to reflect on his career, his music and his life with his new album titled Aks, which means ‘reflection’. Aks happens to be Lucky’s third album after Sunoh and Sifar (which means zero or a beginning). "Compared to my past two albums, Aks is a very happy, groovy album, which is exactly my state of mind these days. I am on a high," he informs happily.

So one wouldn’t find profound thoughts and philosophy in this album, which formed most part of Sunoh and Sifar? "Hey, my earlier albums were not about philosohy," Lucky denies, "They were about situations, real situations which take place in everyday life. Compared to them, Aks is a chilled-out album, very easy-going. It’s a reflection of life, jaise hum sab jeete hain."

The video for the song Tere mere saath jo hota hai too depicts an atmosphere of celebration. "We shot the video in Cuba with the local artists there," says Lucky enthusiastically, "Miriella is the name of the main artist in the video. The video shows their cultural expression, and also proves that music is global. My friend Mahesh Mathai, who shot my earlier videos, has shot this video too and the colour of the film is unique."

The singer has great expectations from Aks. "My first album Sunoh was a very big hit. Sifar was a further step in that direction, and Aks hopefully should be an even bigger hit," he feels.

We wouldn’t doubt that, going by the major fan-following the singer has, which has increased threefolds especially after he sung the Kaho Na Pyaar Hai numbers, namely Ek pal ka jeena and Kyon chalti hai pawan. So will we be hearing him sing more and more of film songs? "Not really," says Lucky, "The Kaho Na... songs were really very good and deserved to be hits. After that I have been getting a lot of playback offers, but none that have really matched upto my expectations. Also, I don’t want to get stuck in the rut and do only one thing. I’d rather do what I feel like doing and things I feel right about," he says, and adds, "I have a lot of other things on my hand, like working on my album, and other responsiblities like taking care of my family."

The singer has settled in New Zealand, and makes trips to India at the time of his album release. We’ve heard that he has a big house there with a sprawling ranch? "Well it’s not a beeeeg house, it’s comfortable for me and my family. But yes, there’s work on the farm to be done, and that takes up my time. Besides making music, that’s what I enjoy too," he smiles.

Salma Khatib

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