Skand Thakur: We have to prove ourselves even for a one-minute role

Music is deeply ingrained in Skand Thakur who was a DJ in his 20s It feels serendipitous that his first show as the lead Khalbali Records is set in the music industry Also featuring Ram Kapoor Prabh Deep and Saloni Batra the Jio Cinema series explores the cutthroat world of music labels through a fatherson story After playing pivotal roles in Article 370 Yours Cupidly 2019 and Feels Like Ishq 2021 Thakur discusses the pressure of playing the protagonist for the first time and why he will always be in survival mode in the industryEdited excerpts from the interviewAs the protagonist did you feel the pressure of shouldering the showAs the lead I used to feel a lot of nervousness on set I used to tell Devanshu Singh director that Irsquom feeling the pressure as everything is on me right now but he is such a wonderful person We had a lot of conversations There is pressure as itrsquos such a big show But I am confident because we have cumulatively done a good job given our heart and soul to this showA still from Khalbali RecordsWith so much at stake have you mentally prepared yourself in case the hard work doesnrsquot pay offAt least I wonrsquot regret that I didnrsquot try If I had halfassed my way through the show I wouldnrsquot feel that way We have put in an honest dayrsquos work every day Sometimes things work sometimes they donrsquot but Irsquoll be proud of the fact that we collectively did everything we could If it doesnrsquot work maybe Irsquoll reflect on what went wrong and what I couldrsquove done better but Irsquoll definitely not have any regretDo you feel yoursquore always in survival mode as an actor in this industryI think the survival mode or the feeling that you have to keep proving yourself is something that will linger around for a long time at least for those who are not from the industry We always have to prove ourselves no matter if itrsquos a oneminute role or the lead We want to do a fantastic job get noticed and do it again because thatrsquos how wersquoll get more work I hope that mode always stays in me because I know there is no one sitting around to give me another chance I donrsquot have anyone backing me I have to do a great job and prove myself Irsquoll never slack off but Irsquoll still be in survival modeAs prep did you study about all that goes into the music businessFortunately Azadi Recordsmdashthe people who have given music for the showmdashcame on board four months before we started shooting I was shadowing Azadi Recordsrsquo CEO Mo Joshi I spent a lot of time with him during his live shows with Uday Kapur and Prabh Deep We would reach the venue three to four hours prior to see what the artiste needs Even while shooting he was with his artistes making a new song or trying to link up with new artistes and get a new song out That gave me a little exposure to the music industryIn your time with Azadi Records did you gauge the conflicts in the music industryI had a few conversations about it with Prabh and Mo I got to know the challenges that singers and rappers face For instance sometimes theyrsquove made a song but itrsquos not being loved as much Or the beats produced by producers donrsquot get approved by the songrsquos owner There is a lot of competition as well because we have so much talent when it comes to writers composers rappers and singers So conflict is bound to be there With multiple artistes coming together there is bound to be love and hate You have to navigate the contractual process carefully because you might just feel that yoursquore stuck with someone for five or 10 years depending on how big the contract is Azadi Records is exactly what Khalbali aspires to bemdashunfiltered and uncensoredHow is the music in the showMusic is the main character in our show There are roughly 23 original songs in the show which will be released as an album soon We have about 30 to 35 artistes who have given music including Prabh and J Trix Amit Trivedi sir has given seven songs for this Azadi Records has given the rest We also have Rekha Bhardwajji Nikhita Gandhi and Anu Malikji featuring in the show It will be a treat for everyone who is into music