New Delhi: From singing some of Bollywood’s most romantic numbers to lending voice to songs with a message — the melodious Shaan says he finds himself at peace while working on tracks which bring people together. His latest work is the #BeatPlasticPollution anthem called “Tik Tik Tik”, part of a campaign initiated by Bhamla Foundation in association with Hungama to raise awareness about plastic pollution ahead of the World Environment Day.
Shaan may not be singing as often in Bollywood as he once used to, but he finds himself drawn to songs with social relevance. “Whenever there’s an opportunity to do something that has a social relevance to it and which aims to make a change, I am always there… It explains why whenever there’s any song that has multiple singers for a cause, I am one of them,” Shaan told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
“So, whether it was Behtar India campaign, which was about children from higher strata helping the not so privileged ones, or a song for the under-18 boxing championship anthem… I enjoy doing songs that can bring people together. The song on plastic pollution hits that list at the moment,” added Shaan, known for chartbusters like “Jab se tere naina” and “Chand sifarish”.
“Tik Tik Tik”, which he has composed, is penned by Swanand Kirkire and choreographed by Shiamak Davar. The anthem also brings together Sonu Nigam, SunidhiChauhan, Ayushmann Khurana, Kanika Kapoor, Shankar Mahadevan, Armaan Malik, Shekhar Ravjiani and Neeti Mohan.
Its music video brings to the fore facts about the extent of plastic pollution, and the campaign aims to get people to say no to single use plastic.
“We wanted to make the song effective, not just entertaining,” said Shaan as he explained how they have punned with the “Tik tik tik… Plastic tick na paaye re” lyrics.
“If that tik gets triggered in your head, won’t come out for a bit,” he quipped.
Shaan believes music is an important tool to get social messages across to the people.
“Music has a magic that you want to hear it again. It can get your message to be repeated because when you like a song, you will tend to hear it again and again. It’s a human tendency. So, when you hear the message again, it may ring a bell the third time.. If I have to just read out something to you, that message will stop there. Which is why music helps.
“When you put the right notes, use the right intonation, sing it with right feel and expressions, it says so much more than just words.”