“I come from a family that is heavily into theatre and the arts,” he says when we meet up at a midtown studio. “My grandfather Vasantrao Kamerkar was the head of Sugam Sangeet at Saregama (then HMV) and gave the first breaks to giants like Sudhir Phadke. My maternal grandfather Sharad Devare was the still publicist for four generations of filmmakers from Guru Dutt to Subhash Ghai. I naturally began singing from early childhood and for the first three years I learnt the harmonium and basics from my grand-uncle Yashwantrao Kamerkar.”
Rishikesh, however, admits that his real training in classical music began very late. “I was in college then, and felt the need when I was creatively involved in the hugely-popular television show Tak Dhina Dhin on DD. My work included guiding contestants if they went wrong on a song and I began to acutely realise my own limitations.” He also makes another ‘confession’: “I have grown up listening to English music. And the basically Western thinking and approach have really helped me be versatile and adapt my voice to the requirement of the song.”
Rishikesh’s progress was gradual. “For a back-up, I even have a diploma in filmmaking and television production,” smiles the singer who is also a composer. “But I was lucky. Justin-Uday were doing a lot of corporate ads and I was getting to sing 8-10 songs in a month! I then began to do jingles elsewhere and started getting work with Clinton and Suzanne. Kunal Ganjawala gave me a lot of work and when he became a big name my work increased as he stopped doing backing vocals.”
Ranjit Barot, as arranger for Anu Malik’s Asoka (2001), gave Rishikesh the first break, and he was a part of songs like Roshni se bhare bhare and Aa taiyyar hoja. “I did a lot of work for Ranjit and Salim-Sulaiman and have since done backing vocals for everyone from Anu Malik and A.R.Rahman to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Pritam, Sajid-Wajid and others. I have worked on every single Yash Raj film and Dharma Productions’ project since,” smiles the affable youngster.
In the interim, Rishikesh began singing in Marathi films and soon graduated to composing music for films like Saadhe Maadhe Teen, Maatichyaa Chuli, Mazhaa Navara Tujhi Baayako, Yandaa Kartavya Aahe and Mukkam Post London. “All these films had big names - three of them were directed by Kedar Shinde - and were huge hits, so I was on a hit-streak with my partner Ajit Parab. But at that time I consciously decided to concentrate on singing. And Le le mazaa was a lucky break.”
Rishikesh reveals that he was actually called for the backing vocals in the Wanted song. “When the singer’s rendition wasn’t working out, Sajid-Wajid wanted all the three backing vocal guys to try out the song, and they liked what I sang. But they warned me that my voice would be retained only if producer Boney Kapoor and Salman Khan both liked my vocals. Boneyji complimented me the next night and I recorded the final take. But because Salman had not heard the song I was on tenterhooks till the album came out!” Rishikesh smiles at the memory of this four-singer song in which he was the only male voice. “Sajid-Wajid wanted a Pashtun flavour in the song from me.”
Next came two songs in friends Justin-Uday’s Sikandar. “But I knew that I could not expect any mileage from these songs - in Allah hoo I had just two lines while Chaal apni was for kids and I did not sing in my natural voice.” But now Rishikesh will be singing for Justin-Uday’s new film and also for two films of Nagesh Kukunoor, both of which have music by Tapas Relia, and he is very happy about the song he has recorded for Yeh Honsla. “Nagesh is a Kishore fan and this song is the classic old-fashioned hero’s song with situational lyrics and a melodious tune,” he says.
As a composer, Rishikesh does offer two or three options for each song in his films. “I have now taken on Kshanbhar Vishranti - my first Marathi film as a solo composer,” he says. “I do have time on my hands and now I do not see why I should not do the occasional film, especially since it is from the makers of Saadhe Maadhe Teen.” Rishikesh has also composed music for a Hindi film, Deh, which was directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. “But that film is unlikely to release,” he shrugs. “Mahesh is an old associate with Maatichyaa Chuli and I also sang in his Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy.”
Does he think that progress would have been faster but for the trend of music composers increasingly singing their own songs? “Yes, but that’s something that as of now is here to stay,” he says.
Clearly, he is confident that good singers will make it anyway.
