ARRIVING here on May 11, Toshi's very first experience was to fulfill his religious obligation and do an Umra. “Being a Muslim, it is the biggest achievement for me,” he remarked. “I used to travel around the world and my mother used to say, if you have not visited this place (the holy mosque), you have missed something in life, so it is like a dream come true.” Mass fan following Toshi's meteoric rise in India's competitive music industry can arguably be attributed to the massive fan following he commands. On social networking Web site Facebook, for instance, 6,000 people have joined his fan group. “Sometimes I don't realize the extent they (fans) go for me and show their love,” he confesses. “At the passport office, I was given a box full of letters from my fans across India; some sent me prasad (offering from a Hindu temple), and some sent me threads from dargahs.” Toshi derives much of his fan following from his appearance in India's popular singing contest “Voice of India” where he was the third runner up, and subsequently on reality shows “Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar” and Ustadon Ke Ustad”. Asked if the people who voted for him in the show were biased, he replied “I do not think there was any partiality as I did my job with complete honesty. Every performance I used to give and every song I sang in each show, I wanted it to be unique and better than the previous one, so that the people who were voting for me would always remember me. I never really bothered about the winning or losing factor because winning a competition and winning in life are two different things.” He is passionate about proving his worth as a singer that is here to stay. “There was a notion that reality show singers come for a limited period, sing a song or two, make their album and vanish…I wanted this notion to break,” he remarked. “I will prove that singers who have potential, don't just come and go…rather they stay, establish and grow permanently.” Reality shows For the majority of viewers in the subcontinent, reality singing contests have proven to be sore points of contention with much talk about rigged results and orchestrated drama in episodes. Toshi denies any such staging in “Voice of India”. “If you spend so much time with the crew, you get attached to people, whether it is the judges, mentors, partners or competitors.” he explained. “You tend to get personally attached to people, and the fights and arguments on stage are quite natural. In fact, all the arguments in which I was portrayed were all true; I never got a script or training to act in a particular way on stage.” He agrees, however, that some reality shows do feature staged drama to seek viewers' attentions. “Sometimes, channels or shows do want gossip or masala to attract more viewers, but then it also depends from person to person,” he said. “If you want people to sympathize with you, shed tears with your tears and take pity on you then they make it more decorative. In my case too, people tried to hype the situation when I was voted out from the show. People protested in large numbers, came out on streets, and burned dummies.” The music industry On a different tangent, Saudi Gazette asked Toshi what he thought of the status of classical music in the Indian music industry. “Classical singing does not have much scope in today's generation,” he said frankly. “Listeners are not the same as they were in my teachers' generation and I feel it is not the age for classical (music).” He was quick to emphasize, however, that learning classical music was vital to success. “Without learning classical music, you cannot excel in this field,” he stressed. “I feel that classical music is the foundation of music and you cannot build a house without a foundation.” Expressing his own affinity with classical music, Toshi said, “A good singer is one who can sing all kinds of songs, whether it is classical, jazz, pop or anything else. Today's youth think that if you know how to play and sing a couple of songs on a guitar, you are a great singer, which is not true. When I was a kid, my teacher used to say “lohe ke chane chabaoge”, meaning that I had chosen a tough profession, and I realized later how correct he was.” On the more sensitive issue of established singers commenting that new generation singers are just a ‘passing phase', Toshi offered a practical outlook on the issue. “People have to understand that they cannot rule for a lifetime,” he remarked. “Nature's mandatory rule is that whoever is ruling has to leave the throne for their successor. I personally feel that if I sing and can stay with the industry for 12 years, I will definitely give way to the newcomers in the 13th year...I want to encourage such people.” Anyone who knows Toshi even a little can discern that he is an avid fan of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. “I remember when I met Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for the first time, the things he told me about Nusrat Saheb were so touching; he told me that Nusrat Saheb's daughter is my big fan, and I cannot think of a better compliment than this,” he reminiscied. “I have learned a lot from listening to his songs; people sometimes tell me that my style of singing reminds me of him. I used to buy audio cassettes of his work, learn his nazms by heart and sing his qawwalis.” “If he was in this world today, I would have shown people what a true fan is!” he added cheekily. Future Plans Toshi has been very busy for the past year or so with a number of high-profile projects. We spoke to him about the work he has been doing and that which is in the pipeline. “In a recently-released film “Raaz 2” I sang a song called “maahi maahi” which became quite popular...and an international hit,” he said. “I am doing a film with Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt which should be released by June, called “Jashan” where I have played a small role as an actor and have sung all the songs in the movie as well.” Much of Toshi's work has included his brother Sharib's efforts and he is quick to mention this. “In another movie “Vaada Raha” by Samir Karnik, my brother and I have given the music for the entire film again, he said. “We are also doing a big banner film called “Jail” by Madhur Bhandarkar, starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu.” Despite his forays in Bollywood, however, Toshi emphatically denies going into acting. On being asked about his album, he was also clearly against the notion. “I am actually against albums because I do not think that this is the right time for albums. I do not think there is anything bigger than giving music for Bollywood and if those songs are even picturized on you then there is no need of coming out with an album. At least not now...may be after getting a six pack,” he laughed. Loose ends Toshi also professed interest in visiting Pakistan. “I wish to go to Pakistan,” he said. “In fact, 75% of my fans in Asia are Pakistanis. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan wanted me to sing a song for him but I could not visit Pakistan because of all the problems these days.” We asked him when he planned to settle down in life, to which he replied “Yes, I have plans to marry, but whenever God permits it and I find a girl,” he replied. “To be honest, I really like Arab faces and I've only started thinking about getting married after I came here!” Professing a deep-rooted love for playing snooker and driving motor bikes, Toshi expressed a fascination with some four-wheel bikes he saw in Tahlia and remarked that he wanted to buy one. On a parting note, he advised all his fans to pursue their work honestly and with passion and to respect their parents.
