By Natalia Ningthoujam
New Delhi– Popular Punjabi singer-actor Harbhajan Mann’s son Avkash Mann has launched his debut single, which has been featured on the American Top 40 Charts playlist on Spotify, featuring artistes like Arianna Grande and Beyonce Knowles. He says he doesn’t want to use his music to promote anything that would cause harm to people and so, he would like to stay away from songs that refer to violence, guns and alcohol.
His debut song, “Away”, has been composed, written and sung by Avkash himself. The English pop single, which released last week, has elements of alternative R&B.
“I always thought that if I write songs then I would want to write them for people who can relate to them. My music is inspired by what is going on around me. Not just my own life, but also my friends’ and close family’s lives,” Avkash told IANS in a telephonic interview.
“They are all positive songs. Whether it is a song with romantic theme or social theme, I want to have positive messages in my music. I don’t want to promote anything that would wanna make people do something that is detrimental to themselves or people around them,” he added.
Sharing examples, he said: “Like violence and guns…lyrics like ‘goli marna’ (shoot somebody) and alcohol. That’s not me.”
His music is more about introspection.
“With social media and all, everything is happening at a fast pace. People don’t have the time to sit down and introspect,” he said.
The young artiste has received training in singing, acting and writing from Langley Fine Arts School, University of Toronto and the New York Film Academy.
“I have been writing songs for a long time. It has always been a passion of mine to be a singer, songwriter and actor. The past couple of years, I have been training. Then I wanted to put my stuff out there. I didn’t want to take the conventional ‘star kid’ route by having a grand launch and all,” said Avkash.
“I stay away from attention and grand things. I let my work do the talking,” he added.
But did he take his father’s help?
“No. I sent my music to an independent distributor called AWAL. Now, the relevance of big companies is becoming less and less. I didn’t tell my dad about this until I got the acceptance from AWAL and they heard my music and said they will distribute it. Then I told him about it. He was really happy to hear it,” he said.
Any pressure of being a star kid or fear that he will be compared to his father, who has been in the industry for over three decades?
“That’s (comparison) natural. I know that’s going to happen and is inevitable. I am just going to work hard,” he said.
“I won’t deny the fact that people know who my father is but it’s not that I told my dad that ‘I wanna do a movie’. I went through the audition process. My father and I are clear on the fact that I don’t want to follow his path.
“We want to have our own individual unique identities. My dad is still active in his career. He should have his own image. At the same time, we are a team and united. Hopefully, we are going to do projects together,” he added.
Avkash’s kitty is full right now.
“I have written songs in Punjabi and I am working on Hindi tracks too. There are some film stuff in the pipeline too. That’s all going to be announced in the next couple of months,” he said. (IANS)
