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‘Javed Akhtar was ignoring me, so I jumped on the table and pulled his ear’: Mika Singh says he used to be ‘ill-mannered’

Mika Singh also revealed that he used to pass off his work as Javed Akhtar and AR Rahman's, because that earned him more respect.

Mika Singh used to pass off his work as Javed Akhtar's.

Singer Mika Singh recalled a story about his breakout hit “Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag,” and Javed Akhtar’s unknowing association with it. In an interview, Mika said that he’s a huge fan of the legendary writer, and discovered that he would be treated with more respect if he told people that Javed had contributed to the song’s lyrics. He would also pretend that AR Rahman had helped with the music, instead of telling the truth, which was that he did the writing and composition himself.

In an interview with The Lallantop, Mika recalled the story, and was asked if he ever told Javed Akhtar and Rahman about it. He said, “I love Javed saab. I met him a few times at some shows. I have always been a little ill-mannered… He wouldn’t pay any attention to me. This was just after ‘Ganpat’ had come out. We were at an awards function, and I was supposed to enter in a grand fashion. I thought that Javed saab would definitely notice me, but he didn’t.”

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Mika said that some time later, he tried to get the writer’s attention again, but failed. “I jumped on the table, and pulled his ear. His head twisted backwards, and I touched his feet and told him I’m a great fan. He said, ‘Jaao’. I really want him to notice me and praise my work, but he always ignores me at first. Then he waves at me, but from a distance.”

Explaining the lie that he spread about Javed Akhtar, Mika said, “When I made the song, I would ask everyone if they liked it. They would ask me who wrote it, and I knew that if I said I’d written it, they wouldn’t take the song seriously. So, I would tell people that Javed Akhtar helped write it, and that AR Rahman helped with the music.”

Mika also recalled another humorous story about meeting Rahman. He said that his English is weak, and so he was nervous about speaking with Rahman at a show. Instead of saying ‘one day I hope to work with you’, he ended up saying, ‘one day you will work with me’. He was mortified when he found out that what he said could be misconstrued as rude.

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