‘Music has always had the ability to create magic’
Enchanted Valley Carnival, a multi-genre music festival, is back with its fourth edition as it promises to entice music lovers of all ages with not only EDM, Techno, Trance and Indie music, but also Bollywood and International Pop. The event will take place at the famous Aamby Valley, Lonavala airstrip on December 17 and 18.
And adding the Bollywood tadka is singer, actor, director Farhan Akhtar, whose movie Rock On!!! 2 is all set for release. Upbeat about participating in the EVC, Akhtar talks about his love for music, the importance of lyrics, his favourite band and more.
What kind of a relationship do you have with rock music?
The songs I tend to write are more rooted in a folkrock space.
You have been known to like rock music. Any other genre you like? Or it depends on your mood?
I am actually quite okay to listen to many different genres, I am happy to listen to music… I have a lot of friends who are all deeply involved in the whole process of discovering new music and discovering new artists.
You have sung for Rock On!!! And now you will be performing in the Enchanted Valley Carnival. What drives you to live performances considering you have a busy schedule?
I see the line-up of people who are going to play there and it’s pretty incredible and the stuff that is going to happen over a span of two days. So I am really happy to be a part of the artist line-up. The thing that we want the audience to experience is a kind of a joined faith of what you call it — euphoria, togetherness or just pure musical bonding. Music has always had the ability to create magic.
Your take on the EVC since India desperately needs a platform to showcase/promote various genres of music. India needs an event like the EVC where music, food, adventure sports all come together.
I think somewhere for a long time the element of pleasure is missing… be it the young or old people. Just the opportunity to go out and have fun has become such a rarity. So if that can be done with music, with everything else that you’re throwing in there for people to come over and let their hair down and have a great memorable weekend then I think it’s probably one of the best things for someone who is looking for a getaway. What more could someone ask for?
Do you think at EVC, Bollywood music will gel with EDM, Techno and Indie? And this is a good way of attracting people?
You know, eventually, the artists who are coming and the music that is going to be performed — each and every artist and each and every genre of music — will draw upon its own fan base.
It’s nice to have a common platform where different genres and different artists come together and entertain a crowd. I may not be familiar with certain bands, I may not be familiar with certain artists but because I’m coming to listen to somebody that I like, I may suddenly discover someone who is an artist who I’ve never heard of before.
So this joy of discovery is one of the best things that can happen at a festival. When you go in there, not knowing what to expect from other bands apart from the ones you heard of and you liked.
You no longer expect any others and you go there and are completely blown away by someone’s work and it’s just such a great way to discover a new artist.
What was your response to the music and lyrics of Rock On!!! Your father, Javed Akhtar’s lyrics, Shankar Ehsan Loy's music?
My father shared how there is a structure that needs to be followed and I would always question it as to why can’t it be like this or why can’t it be like that.
He would explain it not just to me but to all of us — to Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy and to everyone who was in the room and it’s incredible and it’s true. I mean, English writing — the form offers you a lot more freedom to be able to write however you want to write.
Was the choice of setting Rock On!!! 2 in Shillong deliberate as the town has a flourishing music scene of its own?
Yes it was. I mean for reasons of course that it is considered the “Rock capital” so that was one reason. And the second reason also was that I really did feel that it would be nice to bring the Northeast into a mainstream movie and not just keep it as a picturesque location for shooting or show the place where your main characters to your chief characters, protagonist’s conflicts lie within that area.
I thought it would be nice to do, I felt motivated to do it from just watching and reading about a lot of north-eastern students being targeted in different cities you know and being asked to go home, not being called Indian and things like that. That really rankled me, I felt that it would be nice to set the film there, so that everybody gets a “feel good” factor that we are all the same people.
Can’t stop from asking: Your favourite rock band/singer?
The Beatles.
Devraj Sanyal, MD and CEO, of Universal Music Group is excited: “At EVC, we started the journey of being a differentiated festival last year by positioning ourselves as a true blue-blooded multi-genre music festival, apart from already being the largest camping and adventure festival in the region… We were clear from the start that we wanted to be the Indian Glastonbury where anyone who listens to any form of music must find something in EVC for themselves.” Shoven Shah, founder, EVC and director, Twisted Entertainment: “My vision for EVC has always been about giving the complete experience and making it a diverse festival for a consumer — whether it’s the music, camping and even the location we host our festival at… We have a power packed line up of international and Indian artists for every major genre this year which we can’t wait to unveil.”