Nakul doesn’t like being typecast

Singer Nakul Abhyankar shares what he likes about working with AR Rahman and turning composer for films like College Kumara

Having grown up listening to Rahman’s music, singer Nakul Abhyankar never in his wildest dreams imagined that he would work with the Oscar-winning composer not once, but many times when he became a playback singer. By Nakul’s own admission, AR Rahman turned him towards film music and made him want to explore all genres, much like the subject of his inspiration.

Nakul is happy that he got a chance to work with Rahman in the latter’s very first production 99 songs. Having worked on the Telugu song Choosa maaye ilaa with Rahman in the film 99 songs, he says, “It’s a very special song for me since it’s his first production. It’s a slow romantic number. Rahman sir used ideas from Western classical music in it,” says Nakul who got his break after he won the singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Kannada.

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“Working with Rahman sir is not like he tells us what to do, what not to do. It’s observational…like the way he takes decisions when composing music. Composing music is not only about tunes, but it’s also about knowing what’s going to work and what won’t, watching him gives one a lot of ideas about what goes into commercial film music,” says Nakul who is best known for his song Neeli Kanumallo from the film Nawab.

“With reality shows, there is a 50-50 chance of making it. But, they provide a platform for aspiring singers. I won the competition at a time when social media hadn’t really picked up in a big way and such shows really gave one instant fame as everybody watched more of TV programmes,” adds Nakul who has sung in Telugu films like Love Story (Evo evo kallale), Petta, Keechaka to name a few.

Nakul is currently awaiting the release of his next track from the movie Love Mocktail 2.

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