'I'm the industry's oldest newcomer'

Seema Sinha

Lucky Ali was down with food poisoning recently, but that did not stop him from attacking samosas, while dubbing for Pooja Bhatt's Fish Eye Productions' maiden venture Sur, featuring him in the lead. "I can't resist samosas!'' says Lucky urf Maqsood Mehmood Ali, son of veteran actor Mehmood.

Lately, the singer-turned-actor has been seen in Mumbai quite often shooting for Sur, directed by Tanuja Chandra. He is also doing a cameo in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante.

"I wasn't intending on acting in Sur or Kaante. Films happened by chance. When Sur was narrated to me, I got inquisitive enough to delve into the person Tanuja had created. When I saw the film recently at a trial show, I could see that the story-telling had worked.

"Sur gave me a chance to express myself differently from the way I normally do -- through music. I wanted to take a break from the commercial aspects of the music industry, which were making me uncomfortable. Film experience gave me mental exercise."

Sur is about a music teacher (Lucky), who feels threatened by the brilliance of his student, as she is far more talented than he is. "The only thing I can identify with this character is that he is a singer and nothing more. I don't have any ego. Ego doesn't let you grow, it destroys you,'' says Lucky.

So how does he rate himself as an actor? "I am a spontaneous actor and therefore I'm having problems while dubbing,'' he jokes. "I'm the industry's oldest newcomer. But I was never able to carve my niche. Now I have expressed myself."

Not many people know that, way back in the 70s, long before he got into the music scene, he starred in several films. His last notable film was Shyam Benegal's Trikaal, released more than 15 years ago.

He has also done all kinds of odd jobs, from acting in television serials to breeding race horses in the US, to washing and selling carpets and even working in an oil rig in Pondicherry.

On his comeback trail, the first film Lucky signed was Aditya Bhattarcharya's Avtaar with an American actress, Sybil Temchen and veejay-turned-actress Sophia Haque. But the film was shelved. Dev Anand signed Lucky for his latest Love At Times Square. Lucky was to play the lead but was dropped because Dev Anand found him too old for the role. However, Lucky is still doing the music for the film.

"Devsaab and my father are friends. I let him (Dev Anand) do whatever he wants to,'' said Lucky.

Barring Sanjay Gupta's Kaante, (inspired by Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs) and Pooja Bhatt's Sur, none of the other films he has signed made much headway.

Kaante has Lucky in a cameo as well as the music composer, along with Viju Shah, Shiamak Davar, Adnan Sami, Sulaiman and Salim Merchant. "I acted in Kaante just for fun. Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) is a very dear friend and he asked me to do the role."

When Lucky returned to the industry, he resisted the acting profession. Instead, he concentrated on music. His albums Sunoh, Safar and Aks have been great successes. Sunoh sold over four lakh copies and catapulted Lucky Ali to fame. The album won him several awards, including Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards, the Channel [V] Viewers' Choice Award (1997) and stayed on the MTV Asia Charts for 60 weeks.

Ask him what he loves best and he says, "My priority is ecology and nature, rather than singing or acting,'' he says.

Lucky loves open spaces. He lives in New Zealand in a farmhouse. He has a farmhouse on the outskirts of Bangalore too. Lucky is actively promoting farming and growing vegetables and fruits in his farm. "I have worked with horses, acted and directed. Music happened by accident," he says.

India News Features Service