Shekhar Suman: shaken, stirred and back in a new avatar

The multi-faceted Shekhar Suman has just released his debut album Kuch Khwaab Aise.Ritujaay Ghosh chats up with him.

When his career in films wasn’t going anywhere, television threw him a lifeline with a talk show, Movers & Shakers. Now, that’s off the air and Shekhar Suman’s presence on TV is limited to being a judge on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge .

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But the actor is now exploring a new avenue. He is trying his hand at singing. He’s released his album Kuch Khwaab Aise recently. Suman says he has always nursed the desire to sing, if not for fans then for his own satisfaction.

“It wasn’t a commercial decision but a personal one that propelled me to come out with an album,” he asserts. He has also undergone two years of training.

“I expressed my desire to sing to Aadesh Shrivastava two years ago. He asked me to undergo a two-year training session. I followed his instructions,” says Suman. Most songs in the album are soft romantic numbers.

Why didn’t he come upwith an album earlier?

“It was my obstinacy. I think not many understood my talent and me. I felt I should do something to silence my critics,” informs Suman. His decision to come out with an album came after he realised that he was being tagged as a stand up comedian and a talk show host.

“I’m not going to be bogged down by tags. I wanted to be known as an actor without an image. Doing comedy was a conscious decision because I know it’s a tough job. Actors like Al Pacino, Merlon Brando, Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan have all done comedy,” he says.

“Actors like Irfaan Khan and Kay Kay have changed the outlook of directors today. It’s helping actors like me who were rejected because they did not have a chocolate boy or angry young man image,” he concludes.