Siddharth Mahadevan's Maar Maar Mania

We catch up with Siddharth Mahadevan, who sang the theme song for Gemini Arabians, at the recently concluded MCL

The Masters Champions League, which concluded on Saturday had one musical take away: the theme song of Gemini Arabians. The team anthem played each time Gemini Arabians took the field in the competition. Composed by Deepak Dev, the peppy Maar Maar Maar was sung by Siddharth Mahadevan, the son of versatile singer Shankar Mahadevan. "I am a huge cricket fan," Siddharth Mahadevan told us. "I would open the batting for my school cricket team and anything to do with cricket always lights a source in me. I was really looking forward to MCL ever since they started campaigning for it and later to be a part of it through Gemini Arabians is even more special." Excerpts from an interview:
How did the Gemini Arabians anthem come into being?
Deepak Dev, the composer of Maar Maar, approached me to do this anthem as he felt that my voice had the power and energy which would work with the anthem. Ever since I was very closely involved in the whole process of the creation of the song.
What was the brief/inspiration that gave rise to the lyrics and tone of the anthem?
I was just told one thing and that was to keep it simple yet super powerful. As Deepak asked me to recommend someone who would work for the lyrics of this song I suggested a friend of mine, Tanishq Nabar, who's an extremely talented writer and who I've worked with before. It was a big challenge for him as he had to strike the correct balance between English and Hindi but in the end he struck the right chord.
How frequently do you visit Dubai and how do you find the emirate to reach out to your fans?
Dubai to me is almost like a second home and I visit Dubai very often. We have lots of family friends here and performing in Dubai is always such a treat as it feels almost like you are performing for your fans back home in India.
Tell us more about your musical journey so far. Where and from whom did you have a formal training in music?
I was born in a middle class south Indian family, and like many other south Indian families, it's almost like a tradition to get the children to learn at least some form of music. But for me it was a little different. I was brought up in a house where I could literally breathe music. My father and his colleagues would have all night jams and mehefils and I think that influenced me a lot. My dad realised that I had a musical inclination at a very young age.
I would have a very good sense of time and pitch and so my parents encouraged me to learn music. But I was never forced to get into it just because my father is a musician and it was purely my decision. I learnt a bit of both, Hindustani and Carnatic vocals. My passion was to play any rhythm instrument and I remember my parents gifted me Red and Black coloured congas on my fifth birthday.
My cousin Soumil Shringarpure who is a western classically trained pianist and I would jam at home for hours together. Dad got us a basic programming software and we started putting tunes together and that's where the composing journey started and since then we have always composed as a duo 'Soumil and Siddharth'.
It was more like a game for us, we would play our compositions for my family and when they really liked what we did, it gave us a lot of confidence. Not a lot of people know but the first solo song that I ever sang was not Zinda or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag but it was a song called Tu Hi Hai from the album Ganaraj Adhiraj which was composed by Gulraj singh. The musical journey has been great and I'm very grateful to God that I've got to sing all these amazing songs.
As a legendary singer's son, is there that extra burden that you carry in your performances?
Being his son it is bound to happen that people are going to associate my music to his. Comparisons are bound to happen but there's one advice that my dad gave me and that always sticks to me is to be original and have your own sound and I've always tried to do that. Trying to sing like someone or follow someone else, you will lose out on your identity. If someone sings like Sonu Nigam why would anyone call you to sing? They would always ask Sonu Nigam.
What has been your family's role in your music journey? How much has your father been a factor in that journey?
I am extremely lucky to be Shankar Mahadevan's son and I consider myself very lucky. I have a whole institution of music at home. I have been exposed to some of the best musicians in this country and around the world. Not a lot of people would get to experience these things and just being in the studio with SEL (Shankar, Ehsan, Loy) I have learnt so much from them. But that said you have to be good to stand out in this immensely competitive industry.
People either love you or they don't and it's really gratifying when people appreciate your work. I don't think coming from a musical family helps you stand out, only excellence can. Comparisons keep happening but I take it positively as it helps me set a very high benchmark for myself. It makes me work harder and do better.
What are the forthcoming releases from you? Are there any solo music albums in the pipeline?
Lots of new interesting and exciting projects are coming up including composing for a couple of Hindi films. I'm also working on a couple of albums with dad and have some interesting collaborations lined up.