Crooning up the charts

Mohit Chouhan does it again with Masakali

His occasional tryst with Bollywood has always spelt success but Mohit Chouhan’s latest track — the chartbuster Masakali from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 — has sealed his reputation.

Though his previous hit,Jab We Met’s Tum Se Hi still continues to feature on the pop charts,Masakali’s success tastes a lot sweeter to Chouhan who was the lead

singer with ‘90s band Silk Route. “Most of my hits,including Dooba Dooba from the band Silk Route’s debut album,have been softer,more romantic numbers. But Masakali has a groovy feel to it,which should hopefully break the mould for me,” says the excited singer.

Chouhan confesses the song has been a bit of hard work. The lyrics and the music needed a switch in notes and “some breathless singing”,but the effort has finally paid off. “I have worked with A R Rahman in the past on Rang De Basanti’s Khoon Chala and I was only more than happy to work with him again.”

While the Delhi-based artiste admires the southern genius,he feels the Bollywood music industry too has come of age now and is experimenting much more. “Silk Route’s second album had a song called Morni,which had a folksy pop influence. Though music connoisseurs thought it was a fabulous experiment with music,the song didn’t do well commercially. But these days,the audience’s palate has matured. And with music directors willing to take risks,I think the time is right for the music industry to grow.”

Chouhan has moved base to Mumbai and is currently working on a solo album.

Bollywood isn’t his destination but we’ll surely hear him soon in Imtiaz Ali’s next,he promises.

At the same time,the soft-spoken singer teamed up with a couple of old band members,including drummer Kenny Puri and Parikrama’s guitarist Subir Malik,for concerts. “I have been travelling extensively of late. We’ve done shows in Nepal,

Bangalore,Delhi and even at Mood-I in Mumbai,” he recalls.

He dismisses the suggestion that Silk Route will be coming together again but explains that the new set isn’t officially a band yet. “Can you believe that the only thing stopping us is that we haven’t come up with a suitable name,” he laughs out loud.

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