PREM
Romancing music

Prem, the new singer on the Indi-pop scene, is the son of actor and television producer, Prem Krishan and the grandson of Premnath and Bina Rai. Siddharth Malhotra changed his name to Prem because, “Prem has been very lucky for my father and grandfather..”

His debut album Dhun is the result of two years of hard work and encouragement of Raju Singh, who is the composer of the album, and has been a strong influence on Prem since he was 14. “He has been like a friend and guide. He composed almost 30 tunes for this album of which we selected the best,” Prem says gratefully.

Anand Bakshi has penned the lyrics. The album has a lot of variety. There are romantic numbers, a rock ballad, a song on a beach and a “modern” ghazal.
Prem started learning music at the age of three. He studied Indian classical from Pt. Jagannath Prasad. At the age of 14 he wrote and composed his first song that so impressed lyricist Nida Fazli that he convinced his father to let Prem continue with his music lessons. He took further training from Ustad Sultan Khan and Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

After graduating from HR college, Mumbai, with a commerce degree, Prem went to New York for a diploma in acting and filmmaking. He assisted Vidhu Vinod Chopra during the making of Kareeb. And then came Dhun.

Prem insists that he has never used his father’s name to get started as a singer. He went to Universal as any other aspirant and got his chance on his own steam. “You can get one opportunity by using your contacts, but to survive you have to prove yourself. If people don’t accept you, your family backing is of no use,” mainatins Prem echoing his father’s words.

Prem doesn’t intend to make an impression only as a singer but also as an actor. Acting is in his genes and Prem has received some good offers from big production houses. He opted, however, to go through some body-building sessions for a year because, “I did not intend to start unprepared.” Some day soon he aspires to become as successful a singing star as Kishore Kumar, and give his own playback. “I feel after Kishoreda there is a void which I’ll try to fill,” he says, obviously very much in awe of Kishore Kumar and his son Amit, whose versatility has made quite an impression on the young man.

Prem is currently composing the music for Mamla Gadbad Hai, a teleserial on Channel Nine, and U-Turn, a serial by Vinta Nanda. Another serial Kal Aaj Kal Aur Kal has been conceived by him. It’s obvious that this Prem is a man of many talents with a bright future ahead of him.

L B

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