| After quitting films more than seven years ago, Mandakini is all set to make a comeback, not as an actress, but as a singer with the album No Vacancy, produced by Rajiv Chaubey. The blue-eyed beauty was shooting for the music video at a five-star hotel in Mumbai, and alongwith Chaubey, talked to us about the making of the album... |
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Rajiv Chaubey has to his credit numerous teleserials and over two dozen documentary films as a producer. “Actually, I wanted to graduate to filmmaking. But with the date problems of stars, I decided to keep the idea on hold and opted to produce an album instead. No Vacancy may be my first album as a producer, but I am quite confident about it. That’s why I am not worried about the huge money that I am spending on it.” |
| Why did he decide on taking Mandakini as a singer? “I have been
a fan of her’s right from my school days,” he admits, “I had
liked her song Dancing city which she had sung for Bappi Lahiri for the album
Night Lovers. Even though she quit acting, she has been doing stage shows
all this while. So she hasn’t really lost touch with acting. In this
album, all the eight songs have been rendered by her. I have already shot
the videos for two songs and I must say that Mandakini has done a splendid
job, even though she is acting after a gap of seven years.”
Chaubey himself has directed the videos alongwith Sandeep, who has been associated with his company, PMTV (Progressive Media Tele Vision). And the shooting has been done on 35mm and not on Betacam or 16 mm as the practice generally is. Besides Mandakini, others featuring in the video include Raja, Smriti Malhotra (a Femina Miss India finalist) and Ernest, alongwith eight pair of dancers and twenty pairs of junior artistes. “I wanted to shoot this video in Mauritius, but the formalities were taking so long that I decided to shoot it here,” reveals Chaubey. |
| The story in the video revolves around Mandakini, a fiance of a naval officer (played by Raja), who is being hounded by a stranger, Masha Allah Khan. But she tells him, “I am sorry Handsome, there’s ‘No Vacancy’!” Informs Chaubey, “Actually, Jackie Shroff was to play the role that’s being played by Masha Allah Khan. But he was shooting out of Mumbai and wasn’t available.” |  |
| No Vacancy is a female-oriented album. “Today’s woman is
independent. In fact, she feels she is superior to man. This mood of the
present-day society has been reflected in this album,” says Chaubey.
He is confident that six out of the eight songs will become popular.
“Unlike the other albums where you end up paying a bomb for just two
good songs, this album is value for money,” he opines.
Chaubey intends to release No Vacancy on June 15 through Bombino Music. And on the same day he will be announcing his next Punjabi album which will feature a new singer. “I am sort of making things easy for the big music companies by producing these music videos with new talents. All they have to do is market the product. After all they don’t have the time or patience to scan through the thousands of aspirants who flock their offices. In No Vacancy, I have given breaks to newcomers in all the departments. Rakesh Mishra has penned the songs, while Amar Mohile has composed the music. I have employed the services of some of the best in the field like Abhinav Upadhay, who has been playing the tabla for Jagjit Singh. Then there is Tony, the permanent guitarist of RD Burman. He is the one who played the guitar in Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko,” points out Chaubey. Chaubey’s company PMTV aims to promote new talent, and gives a platform to deserving singers. “Budding singers do not have the resources to record even one stanza of their songs. I’ll be happy if I can be of help to them,” he says. Among Chaubey’s plans include an album which will be a combination of folk and Western music, and an English album with, Mandakini, of course. |
Sushama Shelly
