Sheikh Hamdan joined the kids as they browsed through some photos that captured how they used broomsticks and helped their community
Empires and islands
Armaan, who will be in town on January 26 to perform with Grammy and Oscar-winning maestro AR Rahman at his concert, The Journey: Celebrating Music, being held at Bollywood Parks Dubai, is already a decade old in the Hindi film industry and one of its most promising vocalists. But there were both pros and cons of tasting success at such a young age, says the singer who first courted the limelight when he participated in the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs at the age of 10.
A sprinkle of luck?
Despite having gained exposure through a reality show, Armaan says being on such programmes is not always a ticket to enter the industry or get good opportunities. "Winning a show doesn't guarantee you work, for sure. Because I've seen a lot of the winners of these competitions and after many years, I see them not in the singing field at all. It is sad. Look at where Arijit Singh has reached now, he participated in a show called Fame Gurukul in 2005 but couldn't make it to the finals. And the winner of that show is not even in the film industry right now."
Training in the studio
He reveals that he learned these things "from a very young age."
"I did ads and commercials when I was 8 or 9 and I was in the studios before I came into reality shows and became famous. So my training has been in the studio. And not many people understand that when they come into the studio they have to re-learn everything. They've learnt so much singing on stage, and now they have to re-learn their singing and kind of break down their singing in the studio. And that's very tough for some of the singers to do. And that is why it's very important to do a lot of studio work, and probably assist composers.
Use social media
He has some advice for aspiring singers, and that is to make full use of social media.
"Today social media has become a huge platform. Through avenues like YouTube and Instagram, a lot of new singers are coming up and are becoming popular. If you feel that you have the talent, you should shoot a video. even if it's like a basic video, it doesn't need to be well done, or a high scale shoot, it could be a normal video in your room. But you need to put content out there, you need the world to see who you are, how you sing. I think a lot of singers are coming up this way and are more popular than singers who have been singing in the industry for a long time.
Music across borders
Armaan recently announced his debut show in the Netherlands in February. How does he feel knowing that his music is loved and admired beyond the subcontinent?
"I definitely feel music can transcend barriers and borders. There is no language barrier in music.The biggest example of that is the song Despacito - it's a Spanish cum English song and the whole world is dancing, singing, humming to that tune, not knowing what it means. It's amazing how in today's times, the growth of an artist is much more possible than it was before, because of the mediums that have come about, like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. They help you reach out to a larger audience and I probably wouldn't know that I have that many fans and listeners in so many different countries if it wasn't for these platforms. I'm really blessed to have touched hearts in different parts of the world."
'If I hadn't been able to sing...'
Did Armaan have it easy because he's from a famous musical family? No, he says. "There are two ways to look at it. Everyone from the outside when they look at your career, they feel that you've had an easier career platform than the other singers who usually have to struggle. But my way of looking at it is, probably I might have access to the door but when I open the door it's all up to me, it's all my talent. Maybe that's the only easier part that I got, that I got access to the door of opportunity, but when I opened the door if I hadn't been able to sing then I don't think I would have gone further."
Favourite songs
"There have been many favourites but if I had to break it down, one would be a non-film single called Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon, whose video featured Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta. It's reaching a 100 million views and it's one of the songs that's closest to my heart. Also, Bol Do Na Zara from the film Azhar is a big song of mine which I really, really love. Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi are legends of their time. I love Kishore's Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna. As a singer I think Mohammed Rafi is someone I really really admire, because of the way he sings. I think it's very effortless. And he does, like, tough things but in a very easy way. That Golden Era cannot come back, definitely."
Why Armaan loves Dubai
"Dubai has always been a favourite place of mine. I've always enjoyed being there; there are a lot of music lovers, a lot of fans out there. And I'm getting an opportunity to perform with AR Rahman, that is a very big platform for me. Last year I sang my first song for him in Robo 2.0, called Mechanical Sundariya - the music of this film was launched in Dubai. So Dubai definitely has a special place in my heart. And there's no better way to show my love than come with AR Rahman and spread music and magic there. So I'm really looking forward to it.
enid@khaleejtimes.com
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