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The Rising Star, the latest find of Rahman is the voice to watch out for in the music business.

Most of the songs that he has sung seem to reflect his personality to the Tee fun, confident and passionate. Twenty three-year-old Benny Dayal has had the dream start in the music industry that many dream of. His debut was with A.R. Rahman and from then on he has gone on to wield the microphone for the likes of Harris Jayaraj, Vidyasagar and G.V. Prakash.

His first song to hit the airwaves was Maduraikku Pogadhedi, from the film ‘Azhagiya Thamizh Magan’ in which he has also sung Nee Marylin Monroe Cloninga, both of which can get you to shake a leg or two. But it wasn’t just luck, there’s a lot of practice and exposure that earned him the call from Rahman’s studio.

Based in the Gulf, Benny came to Chennai to earn a graduation degree from MCC. That’s when he participated in SS Music channel’s talent hunt contest and became a part of the then-famous S5 band. A few years later, he was also spotted in Vijay TV’s ‘Paadum Office’, a singing competition between professionals working in corporate offices and is a part of a Rock and Roll band called “Rainbow Bridge”.

“We hope to expand the horizons of musicians in India by creating awareness about Western music and Music Technology, while continuing to respect and strengthen the art of Indian music. Aspirants will be trained to reach high standards of proficiency as musicians with good grounding in the technology that goes behind the process of making music,” explains the enthusiastic founder and principal of the Conservatory.

When it comes to acknowledging good work, Rahman is second to none. At the recent audio release function of the film Saroja, he heaped praise on music director Yuvan Shankar Raja. “Yuvan was seven or eight when I was working with Ilayaraja. I have seen him grow as a music director. I am happy that he is among the best composers in the industry right now. I am sure he will reach greater heights,” he says.

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A speck of the spotlight

Fans themselves come under the spotlight as they rally support from their communities to help their stars shoot high in online polls. Adding to these are the numerous games related to the stars that are available online. An SRK application in Facebook has 624 monthly active users, while another game on Aamir Khan attracts 205 users every month.

As a fan flaunts her pictures with the star, much to the envy of others, or another one brings out a link to a rare snippet on the star, the fan too gets a share of the star’s glamor. It’s all about show biz, indeed!

Film is based on a true story, and it’s about a kid from the slums of Mumbai, who has nothing – he’s ill educated, he’s illiterate – and he goes on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ and wins it. It has tongue-in-cheek humor. This film is written by Simon Beaufoy.

As for Sukhwinder Singh he is all set to ride the Hollywood wave after winning over Indian audience with his voice and melody. His other Hollywood venture as a music director and singer is Steven Spielberg’s next film.

For this film Sukhwinder is recording a ‘kutch’ song. “I chose folk because it will stand out in the crowd.

Being asked had he ever thought of getting a chance to sing for Rahman, he replied “No No. I just wanted to see him at least once. I was such a crazy fan. I used to call the studios so many times and usually the studio manager or someone picks and keeps the phone. It was one of my cousin who was close to singer Srinivas who got me that golden opportunity to meet Rahman. It was purely by God’s grace. When I met him, he asked ” Do you sing? ” and I said yes and sang a song in front of him.

He then immediately said, “You have a nice voice. why don’t you choose singing as your career”. That was the moment, I left everything else and again started practicing daily. I was so happy to hear that from him. But I didn’t get a chance immediately. It was an interesting incident and unforgettable even now – The opportunity that I got to sing for Rahman. That day was one of my friends birthday. So we a gang of friends went out to a snooker parlor and decided to spend till midnight and give a surprise birthday gift to our friend. Those days Cellphones were not that popular and only one of our friend had. Rahmanji was looking for some fresh voices to do a chorus and Singer Srinivas was trying to reach Tippu, Harish Raghavendra and Gopalrao.

It’s easy to get slotted here and given that Bollywood is all about cliques and camaraderie, one is tempted to go that route with Rashid Ali as well. Rashid is the flavor of the season (apart from the boy-wonder Imran Khan) given that his song ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’ from the film Jaane tu… is a chart buster. And yet the NRI singer is untouched by the feverish aspiration of making it big in tinsel town; he’d rather simply be a busy musician for now.

Music is not a running race. Its a spiritual journey. If some people, say, its good, it cant be believed, and if some say its excellent, then too it cant be believed. The future generations have to make a garland out of the beads, whichever is suitable

Who is your favorite Political leader ?

After the period of Umar Nabigal Nayagam, there was a person by name Umar, who ruled. He behaved like a servant, by lying down in a bed made of ropes, and lead a very simple life. I came to know of all this, after reading his bibliography. After him, I like Mahatma Gandhi very much. I don’t know much about World Leaders, but amongst the few people, who have had impact on me, these people play a prominent role. A good leader must have patience and forbearance. He shouldn’t have differences between the rich, poor, good and bad, and must have the benefit of the nation and the people to be at his top priority.

You have cherished your long standing dream of starting a Music College. What next ?

Starting a Music College has been my first desire, and it is over. There are a lot of faces which follow to the school, and they have to be done, and the school has to be converted into a moral school. I have the intention to transform it that way.

Which country doesn’t love Music in the world ?

There is no nation, which doesn’t love music. Music is the common language of the world. Is there a nation, which doesn’t love the language. If so, please tell me ?