Ali Merchant on his DJ stint in pandemic: I do get scared in large crowds

But before committing to any shows, actor Ali Merchant reveals that he makes sure to check with organizers about ensuring that all guests are vaccinated for his safety and well as everyone else’s.

Live music shows are back, but in moderation and still with a lot of fear, admits actor and DJ Ali Merchant, who has been travelling for gigs all over the country in the last couple of months.

Ali Merchant is known for his TV stints.

Talking about the live scenes in different cities, Merchant says, “I think now the live scene is really picking up. Delhi has picked up, Mumbai is yet to gain momentum, and Hyderabad is on another level altogether. I recently did a show in Hyderabad and there were 2000 people; I was very scared. I do get scared in large crowds.”

Here, Merchant says that before committing to any show, he makes sure to check with organisers that all guests are vaccinated for his and everyone else’s safety.

“Besides ensuring that all attendees are fully vaccinated, all necessary protocols are followed at all venue. The live events space is a huge industry and it’s five times bigger than showbiz. You can imagine how many people got impacted during the pandemic. So many people became unemployed and suffered major losses in the events industry. Everybody got frustrated sitting at home, so it’s really nice that live scene is reviving,” the 32-year-old explains.

“I realised that TV was not taking me anywhere. And that’s when I started getting into music creation and production. I also realised that at one time you cannot focus on two careers because both are completely different. Initially, I faced a lot of criticism as a DJ, but then when I cracked it and performed with major artistes like DJ Snake, Diljit Dosanjh, Guru Randhawa, the perception about me slowly changed,” he ends.