Love,Actually

Born and raised in Pune,Ahuja was exposed to a variety of music in his childhood and teenage years. Listening to melodies by Elvis Presley,Frank Sinatra,Deep Purple and Danny Kaye among others,Ahuja had decided at a very young age that he wanted to be a singer and entertain people. He became a professional singer at the age of 17 and performed at various concerts and events in the city.

Ahuja is currently working on his debut album which is untitled. He plans to have a line-up of eight songs,all inspired by love. “I only write love ballads because I enjoy doing so. There is so much anger outside that I don’t see the need of an angry song,” says Ahuja,adding that he hopes to launch the album by the end of this year. While some of his songs — the titles of which he prefers to keep in wraps — speak of new-found love as well as loneliness. The album also features Honey take me home,a Hindi song that talks about loneliness.

He is in love with the concept of love and expresses it through his music. “Loneliness is the fastest growing epidemic in the world and the only medication for this is love. Love is getting so hard to find in today’s superfast world where people are working 24×7. And this is why we need love songs,” he says on a philosophical note.

From May 24 to 26,he performed at the Escape Festival held at Naukuchiatal in Uttarakhand. “I introduced motown music to the crowd at the festival,which mostly comprised youngsters,” he says.

The genre of music features soul-based sounds with a prominent pop influence. “I am thrilled that India finally has music festivals such as these to encourage young talent,” says Ahuja.

It is difficult for him to pinpoint where he is based,says Ahuja. “Since I have been travelling continuously for the past two years to the US, Canada and Southern America,I don’t know where I can say I am based. Though Pune is my home,I am hardly here,” he says. He will be off again soon; his forthcoming tours are in Toronto and Atlanta next month.