All for a Song

When the strains of the tanpura accompanied a soulful rendition of jab deep jale aana, his honeyed voice steeped and trained in Gwalior g...

When the strains of the tanpura accompanied a soulful rendition of jab deep jale aana, his honeyed voice steeped and trained in Gwalior gharana by his father helped him bag the first prize in a college competition. Since then the rasiya who was a chui mui for almost 10-12 years before he became the Yeh hai prem for the nation has come a long way. The 30-something Milind Ingle, defying all family pressures insists, 8220;I8217;ve always done what I8217;ve wanted to do.8221; And, perhaps it was this determination and an 8220;undying love8221; for music which has kept the young man going.

Studying to become a chartered accountant 8220;as per my father8217;s wishes8221;, the versatile singer rapidly lost interest in building for himself 8220;an academic focused career8221; once friends around him started encouraging him to take singing as a full-fleged career. Ingle admits, 8220; my family was perturbed initially, but since I believed in myself and had faith in the move I was making I decided to take the plunge.8221; And, then came the hard years of struggle; Ingle waited patiently 8220;recording demo cassettes, churning out tunes after tunes and holding my cassettes as if they were my life and running pillar to post to numerous music companies; those days were tough but I guess once a person is hell-bent upon achieving his goals there8217;s no looking back,8221; ponders Ingle. The years of struggle 8220;was an eye-opener which showed me the people who really stood by me.8221;

Ingle8217;s new album Rasiya which has hit the market is in the singer8217;s view, 8220;an extension of what I really am; it8217;s about a young man spreading love and joy wherever he goes and whoever he meets.8221; Composing and singing his own tunes and making everyone dance to his music is what gives Ingle 8220;immense satisfaction8221; and perhaps that8217;s the reason why, 8220;I haven8217;t taken to Bollywood8217;s league of Rafi, Kishore, Kumar Sanu or Sonu Nigam.8221; But, Ingle is planning to compose music for the film industry if good offers come his way.

Though Ingle8217;s Yeh hai Prem did extremely well and now with his hopes pinned on Rasiya, the young singer has explored all dimensions of music in his albums. From classical to folk, from fast beats to soft romantic songs he8217;s done it all. 8220;I try and incorporate a rich Indian flavour in my songs and I guess that8217;s where my classical training helps me and the final output is western beats set aptly to Indian tunes.8221;

The man who8217;s 8220;looking for excuses to break into an occasional song8221; is always finding faults and mistakes in his albums. 8220;Till date I feel that there were certain parts where I could8217;ve experimented and done better in my albums, but I feel it8217;s important to be critical about your work because the day I start believing I8217;m churning out great music, I8217;ll be finished.8221; So who are his real critics, we wonder? 8220; My wife Manasi and my baby boy Surel,8221; says Ingle, adding, 8220;Manasi always listens patiently and makes significant comments which I try to incorporate in my singing.8221; For Milind, his wife is the biggest source of strength, 8220;she stood by me in my worst days when I was struggling hard. People left me, but she stood by me and till today she gives me ample courage to move on.8221;

What8217;s also a great source of inspiration for this rising star is the positive feed-back he8217;s receiving from his fans. In fact there have been instances where Ingle8217;s music has quot; allowed people to simply forget their sorrows and drown in the simple tunes8221;, that he composes and croons. quot;I8217;ll never forget the day I received a call from this person from Dhanbad. He was working in the mines away from his family and he said that the song Rasiya made him forget all his lonliness.quot; And this encouragement feels Ingle is the strength which keeps him going.