We all know him as an actor. Born in Ahmedabad and “brought by Destiny to Mumbai, a city I initially did not like but soon got addicted to”, Paresh Pahuja is known for his performances in films and series as varied as Tiger Zinda Hai, Kadak Singh, Jogi, Operation Valentine and Bandish Bandits.
Paresh Pahuja on his upcoming Delhi concert, “I like to tell stories through my songs. Between the beginning and end of a song is a story”
But there’s more to the artiste that Paresh is. He has been the singer of the hit ‘Mascara’ and the singer-composer of ‘Dooron dooron’, ‘Shaam o sehar’ and ‘Botalan’ among others. Most of these are his own compositions.
Right now, he is most in the news, as a singer-songwriter, and the man behind ‘The Voice Notes Concerts by Paresh Pahuja & Friends’, a six-city concert that began with a bang earlier this month in Chandigarh, and will be held in Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium on March 27. Ahmedabad (his hometown), Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai will follow.
Said Paresh, “The idea for ‘The Voice Notes Concert’, if you watch the video, started right here in this room. I called some of the musicians from Bandish Bandits, and we jammed together and also I called another friend. Our first show was a massive hit at Mumbai’s Veda Kunba Theatre. We just booked the venue and performed, with songs and a story woven around them.”
He went on, “I like to tell stories through my songs. Between the beginning and end of a song is a story. We Indians are big on words as they are important. From my show, the reel that went most viral is a Bullehshah poem that fit well into our theme. It got some 20 million views and shares. Imagine the fact that something written in the 16th and 17th century connects today! If something is said truthfully, it will always connect! For me, a connect is the main thing, as art should be personal and honest! There are a zillion theories of what we all are doing on this planet, and we can try and figure them out together through love, compassion and magic.”
He added, “The idea behind these shows is to facilitate a gathering of a few thousand to make them forget about their problems and just have a good evening.”
As the blurb on Book My Show states, “Paresh welcomes you to sit down for an intimate evening of poetry, music and storytelling woven together with an almost fictional love story.” Each show, said Paresh, will have six voice notes, 12 songs and a story. “I will talk and enact and also play real voice notes of two people talking, which are pre-recorded. Anupriya Goenka and Shruti Das are these two friends. I have been lucky with my friends!”
About his ambitions, he declared, “I see myself as an artiste and see no problem in doing both acting and music. In music, I have been influenced by my nana, who would always be listening to the radio, and also singing Mohammed Rafi-saab’s songs. He would also play the flute and was a real artiste, though not professionally.”
Surprisingly, acting, said Paresh, was never an intention. Studious in school, he decided to have a blast in college and do “everything”, including acting in plays and singing. Then destiny brought him to Mumbai because he could secure admission only in Xavier’s College here, where he did his post-graduation in Advertising and Marketing.
Next came several jobs, then auditions and ads and finally roles. “Even my flat-mates were casting assistants! It was as if Someone was sitting up there guiding me to go somewhere!” he said.
Paresh’s singing break happened when Vayu offered him the song ‘Mascara’. After the success of the song, he decided that if whatever he was going to sing had to be authentic enough to communicate, he would have to turn composer himself. He was also doing films back-to-back then, he recalled. And though he was never taught music formally, he learnt the guitar and the piano himself. “I also had a drum kit. It was as if I was buying and playing with toys I never got in my childhood!” he smiles.
Also Read: Offline Guys Entertainment makes music video debut with ‘Roki Na’ featuring Anupriya Goenka and Paresh Pahuja
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