Imaad Shah: We play with genres in the industry

Imaad and Azad

Imaad Shah has added another another Bollywood project - after Prawaal Rawal's psychological thriller, 404: Error Not Found (2011), and Calcutta Kiss, a rehashed version of his Taste Your Kiss, for Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015) - to his repertoire. Naseeruddin Shah's son has written and composed the track, Bhar De Hamara Glass, for Akarsh Khurana's black comedy Karwaan.

Talking about the number, which has been rendered by Saba Azad, the other half of his band Madboy/Mink, Shah says, "This song carries the essence of the film, which deals with death in both a philosophical and light-hearted way. It is meditative." Having drawn inspiration from jazz and old Hindi classic songs, the musician says legendary composers like Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman and RD Burman were among those whose numbers he turned to before composing this one. "Although influenced by them, the song is reflective of my individual take on it. It has modern sounds."

Naseeruddin Shah

Shah and Khurana had first collaborated on a play titled There Was A Way. "That was years ago, and we've been buddies since them. He had attended one of my gigs, and reached out to me when he was making the film," says Shah, who enjoys composing for Bollywood. "You can experiment with different genres here. It's what I love to do," he reasons. "Music has been an important part of my life. Since most filmmakers employ multiple composers for each film, opportunities are more. This also adds variety to the music being created.

He primarily works from his home-cum-studio in Versova. "Saba and I are constantly travelling for gigs across the country." Last year, he directed the stage musical, Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, apart from having previously composed for father Naseeruddin's theatre troupe, Motley. The veteran actor has an ear for music. "He gives me a listen and likes my music. He tells me it's good."

Having been an admirer of the late musician, Prince, Shah believes the American artiste's work has, so far, been unparalleled. And even though he speaks of music with such passion, his love for acting hasn't particularly taken a back seat. Last seen in M Cream (2014), he says, "I want to act, compose, sing, write and direct. I'm working towards it all."

Also read: Karwaan Movie Review - Irrfan Khan provides all the fun!

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