Nakash Aziz: ‘As An Artist, I Would Say I’m Very Greedy’

 It was in 2010 that Nakash Aziz arguably became a marquee name in Indian music. The Mangaluru-born, Mumbai-based artist got to make his playback singing debut with composer Amit Trivedi and lyricist Javed Akhtar on “Suno Aisha” from the movie Aisha, while also having debut film songs out in Kannada and Telugu.

It marked the start of becoming a go-to singer and composer across languages, since Aziz has since sung in Marathi, Odia, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam, Nepali and even his native Tulu for films and outside of movie soundtracks as well. He says in an email interview, “2010 was a defining point in my career. I got the opportunity to sing for movies and I realized my true potential. I would like to give that credit to all the composers who had faith in me and all my friends who believed in my talent. And to of course, God almighty. I realized that I could uh be a part of this world, which I was so fascinated by.”

To bring it forward to today, Aziz counts 2024 as a “year of reinvention in many ways” and hopes to bring more to the table in 2025. In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Aziz takes us through the journey so far, between hits, meeting with master composer A.R. Rahman and his work on the Pushpa film songs. Excerpts:

Rolling Stone India: At what stage in your career did you feel like the work would come to you, rather you having to go out and chase it? Was that relieving or do you feel you need to still pursue things and pitch, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing?

Nakash Aziz: I realized that in the year 2007, when I was falling in love with music production, and I was discovering new ideas every day. I happened to meet Mr. A.R. Rahman that year, and that’s when I realized that if this can happen, then anything and everything is possible. I feel like we, humans, are such a creation that we never fail to surprise ourselves. I understood the concept of continuing to work on your skills and maintaining a standard for yourself and keeping a check with your body, with your mind, with your heart. I’ve learned that from my gurus – Mr. A.R. Rahman, Mr. Pritam, Sonu Nigam sahab, when we see these people do what they do.

There are people in other walks of life also who inspire you. I always admired Elon Musk. He shows that what normally certain people would laugh at, it should not be a laughing matter to you. I also happened to meet [music supervisor and lyricist] Azeem Dayani and when these kinds of people come into your life, you feel a certain confidence in a partnership or a collaboration.

Tell me about being part of “The Breakup Song” and what the process was like, in terms of all these artists (including you) coming together for this banger?

It was a fun project for me because it was a very experimental thing that I discovered through the likes of Pritam da and DJ Phukan, who is the producer and Sunny MR, Antara Mitra, Arijit Singh and all the people who worked on the project. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was a very fresh album, and all the songs seemed very fresh. That process still continues — the relentless pursuit of achieving something that has never been done before. This was the year of vocal chops were introduced, and my voice was used in a very mechanized manner, very highly processed. I, myself, was quite surprised with what the result was. I was just having fun in the studio, but what came out was really amazing. That song still resonates with a lot of people, and they really like that song. It’s still one of my most popular songs that I’ve been part of.

What do you feel you’ve been doing differently over the years, as a vocalist, as a composer and even as a performer?

I’m just trying to explore myself, my capabilities, my potential, and my main criteria is to follow my heart. If something doesn’t feel right, then I try to understand what the matter is. So, it has to feel right in your heart, and you have to be very honest to your craft. That’s what pushes you to be better.

The one thing that has been constant with me is the process of learning. I always like to learn because I feel that’s a never-ending process and it’s very exciting also. Something that seems impossible, if you really put your mind to it, you can learn that in 10 minutes. And if you keep repeating the process again and again, you just get better at it. I feel a proper maintenance and constant pursuit to learn new things, and to redefine yourself every moment is very important.

Exploring a lot of music, a lot of art in every form, a lot of people also, there’s so much to consume in this world these days and everything is at your fingertips. There are times when you feel like you’re not getting it, but at that point is when one should realize that this is the point where you need to really deep dive into the subject that is deceiving you or trying to run away from you. You have to really grab a hold of that thing and understand, analyze and then proceed. Then you get a version of yourself that was never there before.

Pushpa, of course, has been so well received and so has Pushpa 2 now. Do you feel projects like these, with sequels and building a universe, need that continuity even when it comes to the artists who work on the film’s songs?

I think it’s very subjective. Of course, as an artist or as a human, I would say I am very greedy. I want to be part of projects that include legends, stalwarts or even newcomers, because there is something to learn from everybody. With sequels, it’s always a great opportunity to push yourself and surpass the expectations of the audience and your expectations firstly.

Some people like to continue with a franchise, while some do not want to do maybe a third movie of the same franchise because they feel a certain exhaustion or something like that, and I think it’s totally fair. That should be the call because that’s what’s coming from the heart, and that’s the toughest part to follow in today’s day and age because of the kind of competition and pressure that certain people may feel. It’s very difficult to follow your heart, but I think if one can do that, then one should definitely try because that’s normally the path that is the most difficult. But it definitely takes you to a place where you’ll be very happy to see yourself.

There’s a different story with each composer, as we’ve often heard singers say. Is there any particular anecdote you can share about working with, say, A.R. Rahman?

A.R. Rahman, to me, is a very special person on this planet. I sometimes feel that the way I feel about him, if everybody felt the same way, it would be sort of like a cult, which he already is. Whenever I meet somebody who loves A.R. Rahman the way I do, we definitely bond over the man, his personality, his music and everything about him, and it never gets boring.

I am really grateful to God that I got to meet him in person and got to work with him. It’s a blessing from God, and he’s blessed me truly in ways that are unexplainable.

What was a favorite lyric you got to sing in 2024?

Well, I don’t know about favorite, but one very interesting song that I got to sing was from the movie Devara. There’s a song called “Davudi” and it had a part called “Kili kiliye kili kiliye kileyo.” I really like the way it sounds, and it actually means nothing. It’s gibberish words written by Anirudh [Ravichander]. Of course, there’s one word that I was very happy to hear when I first heard the song “Pushpa Pushpa,” because I was really looking forward to being part of Pushpa 2 as well, for personal reasons and for peer pressure reasons as well.

What’s coming up in 2025? Any big projects or collaborations we can expect?

I am not sure about the film projects, but definitely I am collaborating with this huge music label, Times Music. We are planning lots of songs and I’m definitely looking to explore something that I would normally not get to explore in the film space. I’m collaborating with a lot of composers and lyricists. Ever since I have started being managed by Dharma Cornerstone Agency, together with them, I’m trying to explore new avenues. I think it’s better not to talk much about the future and focus in the present.