Albela Mastana Rahul says, Let’s Go for a Take!

Rahul Seth started his career in Mumbai dubbing for ads, animation films and Hollywood movies. Then he slowly made his mark in Bollywood. Giving music for some songs of Yamla Pagla Deewana catapulted him to fame. In this exclusive interview, he told us about his present Bollywood assignments and other current projects.

How would you describe your childhood?

I was born in Lucknow, in our huge ancestral home called “Kunj Niwas” built in 1921 by my Great Grandfather, Justice Kunj Behari Seth, who was a highly respected Judge in his time.

Later on, I moved to Zambia – Africa with my family, and spent my formative growing up years out there, studying in the International School of Lusaka – the capital of Zambia.

We used to live in a huge farm house with sprawling orchards as our backyard.

It is out there that I got introduced to African Music and thus began my process of imbibing their Rhythms, Styles, grace and energy in my musical learning just by observations and interactions.

Then I started jamming with the locals and tribals by playing the African drums along with them and used to love being a part of their rhythmic musical sessions at night around a bon fire, where they all used to dance to the hypnotic beats of rhythm in the wild.

In a way, you can say … that was the beginning of my oncoming musical journey.

Tell us more about your new album.

Well, it is actually a ‘single’ titled Albela Mastana, which is written, composed and sung by me.

It’s a progressive romantic song set in the Sufi – Ballad genre, with a lilting melody and soulful lyrics. It doesn’t have the typical “Mukhda – Antara” format and that’s what makes it stand apart.

It has garnered a tremendous response and feedback from all listeners, which is truly motivating for me as an artiste.

I had initially made this song with the intention of using it for a film, but since at the same time I was toying with the idea of releasing a single of my own, I decided to go ahead with this song itself, along with a music video featuring myself and a debutant model / actress Parul Joshi, who is so vibrant and natural in it.

We had great fun shooting in heavy rains, waterfalls, stormy winds and dense fog on a mountain top in Lonavla, which added so much to the romantic theme of the song.

Very soon this song of mine will be available for downloads through mobile services and various musical apps and portals throughout the country.

I am very thankful to my entire team, comprising of music programmer Sandeep Chatterjee, Director/Director of Photography Rajat Goel, Editor Siddharth Sharma, creative support by Rupali Chaturvedi, Sound Engineer Rajesh Singh – Satwika Studios and Dharmin Chanda – Trinity Media Works.

Tell us more about your short film.

This short film of mine, titled Let’s Go for a Take is another project very close to my heart.

It’s a musical film with 4 songs lucidly interwoven as part of the screenplay.

It’s a story of 4 musicians and their deep bond of friendship and their mutual passion for music.

It was 1st premiered in Bucharest – Romania and, since then, has been a part of various International Film Fests, where it got an award for Best Music and also special jury appreciation at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.

I am further planning to turn it into a feature film project, since it is very international in its music, content, approach, narrative and sudden twists thrown in as part of the screenplay, as well as having a strong emotional connect with the audiences all across, of which, its various screenings have been a proof.

What are your new Bollywood projects?

Yes, in fact there are 2 film projects in the pipeline, which I have already started work on, plus a crossover film by a producer from Australia.

Apart from that, I shall also soon be collaborating with artistes from U.K, Dubai, Romania and Sweden to do some fusion commercial projects.

Interestingly, I recently wrote the lyrics and did vocals for a special “1st of its kind” musical project featuring Sunny Leone…to be released soon all across.

Do you have a dream project in mind?

Well, at present, my dream project is to turn my short film into a full length musical feature film, with soulful and pulsating music as its base… and then tour the globe for various promotional concerts.

As I said, this shall happen very soon… for the world to see.

What do you do during free time?

In my free time, I read, I take off on long drives…( mostly at around 4 am ) and I love spending quality time with my daughter.

I also like watching movies and often spend time with my own self…in my own space.