Rocker, hellboy, Bollywood composer and now political activist. Vishal Dadlaniu00a0- besotted with his wife of 11 yearsu00a0- plays the shy guy card at this interview

JUST where does Vishal Dadlani get off sounding like he's the city's last standing crusader? And what's with the boorish demeanour that puts off even the gentlest Zoozoo fan? A couple of years ago, Vishal was a zany, hot-as-hell composer wanting to show off the soundtrack of Kaante with co-composer Shekhar Ravjiani at his first floor Bandra studio called Studio One, before it could hit the shelves.



Then, he went under for a week or so after apologising to his fans for a nasty microphone stand-throwing episode four years ago at a gig called Moshmania. Suddenly all was forgotten and, like every other famous face, he was pasted all over hoardings and blasting off TVs. He seemed to be getting louder and more aggressive at every Pentagram gig we witnessed. But just how did he turn into this broom-wielding, door-knocking campaigner for citizens' rights?

We meet Vishal at his two-year-old studio in Bandra. He's in great spirits after a fantastic gig Down Under that even drew comparisons to the Australian funk rock band Mammal in a review. He's also just recorded a thumping track composed by Salim Sulaiman for the soundtrack of Rocket Singhu00a0- Salesman of the Year in his trademark gun-throat vocals. We start off on a not-so-easy note when we tell him that we didn't like the soundtrack of Aladin on first listen but Vishal takes it well.

Vishal fields all the questions surprisingly easily and we come back convinced that he's as approachable as the next guy and lives with the same insecurities that all of us regular non-rockers and the world's biggest rockers have to deal with everyday. Here's the definitive Vishal Dadlani

The soundtrack of Aladin grows on you.
I can't tell the audience that but the trick to listening to Aladin is that every song has a reference point in Mr B's career. Tak dhina dhin refers to Jahaan teri yeh nazar hai. You May Be is Dilbar Mere - there's no similarity between the tunes but that's a waltz and this is a waltz - the structure of the antara in Ore sawariya is Namak Halal meets Padosan tu apni murgi ko rakhnau00a0 sambhal