Eternally Yours, Lucky Ali

With a series of singles up for release and stage shows across cities, the 62-year-old singer-songwriter and composer continues to make music that connects with people

- Deepali Singh

Lucky Ali's earliest memories of music do not have so much to do with making it as much as they are about messing it up. The second child of late actor Mehmood's seven children, Lucky (born Maqsood Mehmood Ali) must have been around five years old when he and his cousin brother dropped in at a studio where singer Kishore Kumar and music composer RD Burman were busy recording a song for his father's film. There were around 70-80 musicians present as well. My cousin and I started talking through the mic, saying things like 'Hey, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you'. We were just really excited to be there, he chortles at the memory. It was only a matter of time that they were sent back home. I always used to mess up in my music; 1 still do sometimes. There are times I sound besura (out of tune), especially after back-to-back concerts, the 62-year-old singer-songwriter and composer softly chuckles.

I am seated opposite him in his hotel room in Delhi. The evening before, the husky-voiced songster, who made an outstanding debut with the album Sunoh in 1996, performed to a packed house in the capital as part of his Lucky Ali India Tour - a Farmhouse Music Experience. The spellbound audience could not help but sing along as he crooned some of his most popular tracks from a musical career spanning close to three decades. From O Sanam to Jaane Kya, Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai to Hairat, it was a journey his audience relived and celebrated.