posted by: Shrimoyee Chakraborty Jul 30 2009 @ 4:38 pm

There is a very interesting reason behind the name Euphoria that came up with the idea?
I am a doctor, and Euphoria is a medical term, so you know where it comes from. So when I was doing medical, there was term called hypomania and my teacher used to call me a maniac and euphoria which is part of hypomania is the stage when you are at your creative best. But this also had another joke to it; we were coming up with names like jaundice, typhoid, malaria, etc and finally euphoria made maximum sense to us.

Euphoria was one of the first “Hindi rock bands” to perform in international arenas like the “Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis” and the “General Assembly Hall at the United Nations” to name a few, could you tell us more about it?
We have played everywhere all over the world, Europe is the only place we have not played, the nicest thing is that its not only the Indians who come to watch it there are a lot of local people who come to watch it as well.

What is the difference that you notice between the Indian audience and the audience abroad?
The biggest difference is this, we have played in Kerala and Tamil Nadu where people don’t understand Hindi, what I really like about the foreign audience is that they don’t like to be claustrophobic about their language, in India there are a lot of prejudices, my thought is that if you do something and you do it well people are bound to appreciate.

You are a doctor by profession, what lead you to the path of music?
It was part of my genes, I am a four generation doctor from my genes and a musician also, I always called it a beautiful mishap, the only reason I formed the band was to impress the chicks in the college.

Do you treat people anymore by your prowess in the field of medicine any more or are you only healing people’s heart by your melodious voice now?
(Laughs) All I can say is that earlier they used to come to show themselves to me now they come to see me. But on a serious note I still practice I have my chamber below my house, and it gives you immense pleasure to treat some one& hence I am really proud to be a doctor.

One unique thing about Euphoria unlike other rock bands are, you have very interesting videos which usually tell a story, is there a reason behind that?
Once the band came out we knew it that we were competing with films, and the only way was to make a film through a video. So we wanted to make a band where people could relate to us and we looked very simple wearing white kurtas shooting in Indian middle class house holds and our songs also spoke about regular Indian people. The other thing that our videos did was because of its popularity many models came into the lime light from Vidya Balan to Neha Dhupia and also our video director Pradeep Sarkar bagged his first film after that.

You have also been the judge of the popular television series “Indian pop stars” which was one of its kind then how was that experience?
I ended up being quite bitter about it, because of the way the show was telecasted everyone ended up thinking me to be a very arrogant person, and that is not what I am,

What is your take on reality shows that happen now? Will you be interested in judging a reality show again?
No way, I don’t like the concept, because I don’t think anyone is in the position to judge anyone, you might like someone’s music or not like some ones music but no one is that big that he or she can judge some one else’s music, or at least I feel I am not big enough to judge anyone.

You were the first person to sing in Hindi rock and released your first single album ‘Mantra’ how did that come about?
I always thought that it’s a great idea to come up with singles, that’s what I proposed to the company, the song was a huge hit; we were the only guys who did it. But the producers thought it was not a good business plan as their logic was if you are releasing a CD then why just one song, one must release eight songs. Basically the concept didn’t work in India.

According to you how difficult is it to make a mark in the Hindi rock music scenario because apart from Euphoria and a few others not many people have survived in this industry for long?
It is very difficult I think, because it’s much more difficult to sing in an Indian language with western beats than singing in English language with western beats. One band that I think could have survived would be “Silk Route” but I think they have not been able to adjust with each other hence they spilt.

The famous line “Elka Cholo Re” by Tagore seems to have influenced you as far as your music is concerned, so does your music also have inspirations from “Rabindra Sangeet”?
The phrase “Ekla Cholo “ is one of the most important and significant phrases in my life , because when I was making music there was no one who supported me or believed in me, I was all alone in my struggle and then when I was successful people recognized my talent. And I am not in a position to speak about Rabindra Nath Tagore, he is one man I highly respect, he is one of the pioneers of India, a man of his stature is a true miracle, people respect Mahatma Gandhi I respect Rabindra Nath Tagore much more.

There is a rumor that one of your very famous songs “Ab na jaa” was written for your wife and also there is some video where she is casted, is that true?
My wife is a scientist and she is not very impressed with my music, (laughs) and my wife has never been featured ever in any of my videos, she is not at all the filmy types rather not even close to that. But “Ab na jaa” was basically written for the film Filhaal but due to some problems it couldn’t be used for the film so we used it as a part of our album.

We have seen the actor Palash Sen in “Filhaal” when do we get to see more of him in that avtar?
“Mumbai Kutting” it’s a Pradeep Sarkar film; there I am acting as well as making music. There is one interesting thing about the film; it has a nine and a half min song by Euphoria.

You have been associated with Bollywood in many ways but why don’t we see you doing play back for Bollywood films often?
I am not really interested, we are doing a lot of corporate song, I did a song for navy and discovery, and moreover we are not Bombay based, some one has to come down our lane who wants a Euphoria song then why not?

Since you are called the “Hindi rock guru”, which are the other Hindi rock bands apart from euphoria who have been able to sustain them selves or have the potential to sustain themselves in the long run?
The band Swaratma, Faridkot, Talaash, Yeshua they sing gospel music in Hindi, they all are very good bands, but the only problem with them is their stage act.

Could you tell us about your upcoming projects?
One is the film Mumbai cutting and October is our new album, we have an august tour of America as well.

If you had to give one advice to the aspiring musicians of our country what would it be?
Gotta be true to yourself, I have a very simple mantra “music is all about a little bit of yourself, a little bit of what every body else wants and a little bit of what god wants”.