“There is nothing to talk about Bollywood. It means nothing important to me and I don’t even consider it an industry. I feel anyone can go there and work,” Lucky Ali told IANS in an interview.

“At this moment, I am not looking at that (Bollywood) at all. Maybe when I want to direct a film, then I will think about it,” added the singer-actor who has returned to the non-film segment with his new album “Xsuie”.

He has not indulged in physical distribution of the music as he released it online. When asked for the reason, Ali said times are changing rapidly and one should not lag behind.

“Things are changing and trends are altering. People are more digitally literate now. As it is when you put out your music digitally, the quality of sound is high. But when you put it on a CD, the sound starts deteriorating. I didn’t want that to happen.

“It is time for us to realise that the world is on a different platform altogether and we need to change too,” he said.

“Another reason was that, releasing songs online reduces the carbon footprint. Getting so many CDs out is not good for the environment. Since I attach myself with the initiative (to save the planet), I take care of it,” he added.

The songs of his new album are available on sites like www.nimbit.com/luckyali and www.bluefrogsounds.com.

Lucky Ali is known for his simple ballad-style singing and melodious voice. He made his pop debut with the album “Sunoh” that made him a singing star. Later he came out with reasonably successful albums “Sifar”, “Aks” and “Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai”.

Explaining his absence from the pop scene for five years, he said: “I like working on my own pace, that’s why my album’s name is also ‘Xsuie’ that means at your own pace.”

“In the last five years, I felt that it was not the right time for me to express myself. I was looking for my anchor. I was doing various things – I was involved in farming at my own farm, meeting farmers, horse breeding. Travelling was high on agenda and at the same time I was making music too.”

It was meant to be a recording by proxy. Amitabh Bachchan had recorded the title song of Paa in the incredibly juvenile voice of his character Auro.

And he did it at Aadesh Shrivastava’s studio two weeks ago, rendering the track sent by Ilaiyaraaja to perfect in a 12-year-old’s voice.

The Big B privately regretted the fact that he couldn’t record in the maestro Ilaiyaraaja’s presence.

But how was the Big B or the director Balki to know that the recording in Mumbai would go kaput?

Laughing pleasurably from Chennai on Wednesday night Balki says, “I guess someone up there was listening. Our recording in Mumbai of Amit-ji’s number composed by Raja Sir suffered a leakage in the headphone. The song had to be re-done. So here we are in Chennai. We’ve just recorded the title number again, this time with Amit-ji and Ilaiyaraaja face to face. It was a historic moment.”

The Big B rendered the number perfectly prompting the musical maverick from Chennai to wonder how a 67-year old man could sing the number in a 12-year-old’s voice so perfectly.

Balki and Mr. Bachchan wanted to keep the very special recording a secret and reveal the coming together of the two super-stalwarts at a later time.

In fact when Mr. Bachchan flew to Chennai on Wednesday morning it was officially said he was in the city for the promotion of Paa.

But after a hectic day of promotion in the evening he sneaked into Ilaiyaraaja’s studio to create history. The Big B has earlier sung compositions by Shiv-Hari, Aadesh Shrivastava, Rajesh Roshan and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Singing in front of Ilaiyaraaja was unthinkable for him. “But he did it. And Raja Sir couldn’t believe what he heard,” says Balki.

Aamir Khan is known to walk the path less travelled. And has done so again by choosing to release the music of his upcoming film "3 Idiots" online and getting the parents of composer Shantanu Moitra and lyricist Swanand Kirkire to grace the event.

Though he is not the producer or the director, Aamir was instrumental in organising the music release of the much awaited film.

Moitra and Kirkire are touched by the actor's gesture to call their parents instead of a Bollywood biggie to launch the music.

"It was Aamir's idea to release the music online and get it released by my and Shantanu's parents. This is something that is not done usually. We felt so nice," Kirkire told IANS

This is the first time that Kirkire, who has written lyrics for films like "Eklavya: The Royal Guard", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", "Parineeta" and "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi", has worked for an Aamir starrer.

Moitra, too, was overwhelmed by the 44-year-old's gesture and said it was not only an honour for him, but for his parents too.

"My mother had a small accident few days before the launch and I was in two minds about taking her from Delhi to Mumbai. But Aamir messaged saying that on occasions like these it is great if we can have our parents with us so I should get them flown. He didn't have to but he still messaged," Moitra told IANS over the phone.

"It was a great honour for my parents to stand amidst such stars and launch their child's work. I was happy but it was also a very happy moment for my parents to see their son do well," he added.

Moitra has also scored music for films like "Khoya Khoya Chand", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", "Yahaan" and "Parineeta" among others.

Based on Chetan Bhagat's bestseller "Five Point Someone", "3 Idiots" also stars Kareena Kapoor as well as R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi. It is slated for a Dec 25 release.

“Paa” is a film with an unusual story and music maestro Ilayaraja has composed tunes that gel well with the movie’s subject. Director R. Balakrishnan’s film stars Amitabh Bachchan as Abhishek’s son Auro, who suffers from progeria that causes premature ageing. It also stars Vidya Balan.

The album begins with “Mudhi mudhi ittefaq se”. Crooned by Shilpa Rao, it has an instant connect. It is melodious but not very long. The song is currently doing the rounds on television channels and has become a hit.

“Mudhi mudhi ittefaq se” has two more versions – “Udhi udhi”, an extension of the original and “Gali mudhi” that has vocals by Shaan. It is slower in pace but equally nice.

Next is “Halke se bol”. It is a children’s song and has a chorus behind the mike. It starts without background music and later musical arrangements are introduced. This too is short in length and is an average number.

Up next is “Hichki hichki”, more of a situational number that doesn’t impress too much. The fast-paced track has been sung by Sunidhi Chauhan.

It is followed by the title track “Mere paa” by Amitabh Bachchan himself. It’s more of a narration in the voice of a child than a proper song. The theme song is very endearing.

Finally there is “Gumm summ gumm” sung by the composer’s daughter Bavatharini with ample support from the chorus. The song has influences of jazz and is a good hear.

On the whole, the album of “Paa” is not conventional and will appeal to music buffs. But most songs will get an edge with the visuals.

Music composer Shamir Tandon, who is celebrating the success of his latest release Jail visited the kids of an orphanage called Snehasadan on Children’s Day to spend the day with them.

On the occasion Tandon mingled with the orphan children. He entertained one and all with Bollywood numbers, especially the Jail track. He was seen singing and dancing along with the kids. Not only this, he made the day for children by distributing sweets, books, special gifts and his film CD.

Before leaving Snehasadan, Shamir made sure that he has put up a smile on the faces of kids and wished them good luck ahead.

The chief minister directed the Ludhiana Improvement Trust to immediately transfer land to the state’s cultural affairs department for setting up the Ishmeet Sangeet Academy at Ludhiana, 100 km from here.

Ishmeet Singh, winner of the “Voice of India” singing contest on a leading TV entertainment channel in November 2007, had mysteriously died after drowning in the swimming pool of a sea resort in Maldives in July last year. He had gone for an event in Maldives.

The 19-year-old, who hailed from Ludhiana, was tipped to be a singing sensation.

The Punjab government has earmarked Rs.20 crore for the Ishmeet Sangeet Academy and the Harpal Tiwana centre for performing arts to be set up in Patiala town.