Singer AB V at the audio launch of ‘Indian 2’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
AB V sang in front of around 8,000 people at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
On the recent much-awaited audio launch indian 2Starring Kamal Haasan – who grew up in a Tamil family in Toronto, Canada – this young singer impressed everyone in the Tamil film fraternity.
Watching his performance with awe and delight were his parents, who had flown in from Canada for the big day; his father, Venky V, who had been instrumental in his initiation into music, was also present.
Abby says, “This was my first experience performing live at an audio launch and it was a great experience.”
The singer sang ‘Neelorpam’, which was the only song in the Shankar-directed film. indian 2, Whose music is given by Anirudh. Though he has sung songs in several films before, this is his first big success. “It was a few months ago when I got a call from Anirudh’s studio and everything happened very quickly. I loved the scratch, especially the ‘maara’ hookline.” Luckily, AB was in Mumbai at the time and boarded the next flight to Chennai, where he recorded it.
He believes that ‘Neelorpam’, which has Shrutika Samudrala lending her vocals and lyrics by Thamarai, will stand the test of time. ,Composers usually decide on a three-minute time limit for their tracks because of the algorithms of many songs, but with ‘Neelorpam’, we decided on a time limit of over five minutes, which is a rarity in film songs these days. Singers are usually told to keep it simple, but this track has some complex vocal nuances, for which Anirudh gave me complete freedom.”
on a high note
Regular visitors to Instagram might be aware of AB’s musical talent; if he releases a reel based on Carnatic music, showing him exploring a musical melody One day, he might be offering a ‘water balloon’ challenge of guessing the lyrics, the next day. One of his most viral videos was in 2020 when he released ’73 Ragas with AB’, in which he explored Hindustani and Carnatic ragas one by one and gave a fun take on the 73 questions of Vogue series.
“I keep changing things up. I’m an entertainer and it’s my responsibility to create good art and have fun at the same time,” said the musician, who also recently released ‘Ni Ni Ni’, an original track he sang with Andrea Jeremiah.
He considers his upbringing in Canada a “huge blessing” that helped him get exposed to different genres of music. “Even when I perform, I try to incorporate things that I have imbibed while growing up. People have commented that my hand gestures resemble an R&B or hip-hop artist. You can see all those influences in my singing as well,” says AB, who is currently listening to other tracks indian 2 and A.R. Rahman’s shiny, Besides pop music.
Singer AB V | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A refreshing sound
AB has clear memories of listening to AR Rahman’s original soundtrack Indian, which released in 1996. “Quite iconic songs, isn’t it,” he says, “We have seen all Shankar’s previous films, and my father is a huge Kamal Haasan fan. When I found out that I had this song in my film, I was so impressed that I had to do it.” indian 2I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is a lot of pressure.’ But for this second part, we just wanted to introduce a fresh sound and singing style.”
‘Neelorpam’ may have just released, but AB has already recorded a few more film songs that will be released soon. “In film work, a lot of collective energy comes in, as the director and producer also give feedback, and this involvement helps shape a number. I really enjoy that process and am looking forward to more of it.”
