FARHAN : AN INTRODUCTION
Farhan is the superstar you’ve most likely never heard of.
At home in India he’s a hugely successful and influential figure in Bollywood. He’s an actor, screenwriter, director and producer with countless movies to his name, not least one leftfield credit that won him acclaim in the west: this poet and songwriter wrote the lyrics for the songs on Bride and Prejudice, the Anglo-Indian musical romcom that was director Gurinder Chadha’s follow-up to Bend It Like Beckham.
More than that: this is a multi-hyphenate with creativity in his genes, stretching back (literally) centuries – on his father’s side, there have been acclaimed poets in the family for seven generations (“that we are aware of”).
“Music and film have always been my passions,” explains the singer. “Both my parents are screenwriters so it really was a very artistic environment I grew up in, where there was a lot of emphasis on the writer’s job. A lot of evening conversations were about characters and stories and screenplays. That is something that probably influenced me to want to belong to that world. So the whole concept of wanting to do something within film, stemming from writing, was incredibly clear to me from a very young age.”
More than that, again: Farhan is an activist who applied his lifelong passions for music and film – not to mention his celebrity in the sub-continent – to found an organisation and travel round India, educating young men “about their responsibility in the gender discourse”.
And now, finally, Farhan has written and recorded his debut album. Echoes is the album of his life, a set of classic-sounding, self-written songs that reflect a childhood steeped in the greats of both Indian music, Kishore Kumar, musician Ravi Shankar and of western rock and pop: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, David Bowie. Recorded in Milan, the rich, melodic album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Tommaso Colliva (Franz Ferdinand, Jesus and Mary Chain, Muse).
Farhan has made music before now – not least playing the part of the frontman of a rock band in the critically acclaimed film Rock On!! (2008) – but he’s been keen to record his own album for a long time. Yet for years, his other interests – and life – got in the way. And then, he admits with the candour typical of his emotionally honest lyrics, a couple of years ago life got in the way, but in a different manner.
“Over the last two years I felt a little bit of a burn-out setting in, just from working on films non-stop. I felt tired of having to get up and report to set every single day. So I took a break. I haven’t shot a film now in 18 months.
I just felt I needed some time out for myself, to reconnect with other things, to look at where my life’s at.
I wanted to channel what I was feeling, and put it out there, just to share with people. And I found that process very cathartic.”
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Key to that process was one of the standouts on Echoes, Let’s Be Friends Again. It’s a bouncy song with the energy of Sixties R&B.
Rearview Mirror, the opening track and lead single, a Bowie-esque vocal and a funky groove, he reminisces about his past.
At the other end of the time and romance spectrum is the lovely, cello-flecked, Nick Drake-like Seagull, initially written as a poem 25 years ago.
Love Is Not Enough, which could be a Hunky Dory outtake, also began life as poem.
“It’s me questioning what it takes to keep a relationship together, to keep it going. It’s not about falling out of love with someone; sometimes it’s a compatibility thing. But as I was writing it, it didn’t feel right to be too introspective or too dark. It just naturally started veering towards wanting to be a happier song. So I just followed that instinct.”
Then there’s Bird On The Wire, which sounds like an inventive retake on U2’s Trip Through Your Wires.
“Wow, interesting!” Farhan laughs. “That’s definitely not anything that was in my consciousness when I was writing. But The Joshua Tree is one of my favourite albums, so it’s probably something that’s subliminally influenced me and that came through in terms of the thought.”
The largely acoustic Why Couldn’t It Be Me is an important song in other ways. It’s the only song that “isn’t looking inward but it’s about an external event”. It was written in response to a massacre in Peshawar in Pakistan, when the Taliban stormed into an army school and shot over 200 children. Afterwards, Farhan read an article about “a mother whose younger son hadn’t gone to school that day because he’d pretended to be sick. But his older sibling had gone and had been killed in the massacre.
“When I read that story I thought it must be such a strange dilemma for a young boy – ‘that could have been me in place of my brother.’ So just that thought got me writing, so I wrote from the perspective of that younger brother.”
That desire for connecting, for reaching out, also informs another of Farhan’s interests. In 2013 he launched an organisation called Men Against Rape and Discrimination – MARD, where mard also means “man” in Hindi.
“It started in response to a gang rape that happened in Delhi in December 2012. The world heard about it. There was a lot of anger and frustration and feeling of helplessness. There is so much violence happening in India, especially against women and girls.
“I felt at that point that I wanted to reach out to boys and younger men and start speaking to them about their concept of masculinity. What it means to be a man.”
From this he conceived a different kind of touring.
“That’s where the idea of going to colleges and engaging with students started from. And that evolved into the idea of going there, and showing them what we do in music and film, which all those kids love. And while we’re there we have a session, during or after the concert, where you talk to the students about these issues.”
As he said earlier, it’s about sharing, and about connecting. With his inbuilt artistry and his CV – not to mention his genes – Farhan has already proven he’s adept at speaking to millions, and at using his voice for change. And now, with his tuneful, universal debut album, this gifted musician is ready to speak to people in a whole new winning way.
Explaining the album’s title, he notes that, “Echoes. It’s about chapters in my life and voices in my head that have influenced the writing. All of us have our personal journeys through life, through love. We struggle at times to make sense of our emotions and of the world around us. So here I am, speaking as honestly as I can about my journey.”
‘Echoes – Debut Album Out Now‘
Acclaimed Indian actor Farhan has released his debut album Echoes, out now on all stores!
Written by Farhan himself and recorded in Milan, the rich, melodic album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Tommaso Colliva, known for working with Franz Ferdinand, Jesus and Mary Chain and Muse.
Echoes is the story of Farhan’s life, a set of classic-sounding, self-written songs that reflect a childhood steeped in the greats of both Indian music and of western rock and pop – the tender album track ‘Why Couldn’t It Be Me’ echoes the subtle tones of Nick Drake whilst the album’s debut single ‘Rearview Mirror’ channels the timelessness of early Bowie.
The new single, ‘Pain Or Pleasure’ is the latest track to be taken from the album. Punchy basslines punctuated with slick guitar licks, swinging organs and a honky tonk vibe give the track its upbeat groove, which is reminiscent of the likes of Chris Rea and Joe Cocker.
The new single follows the release of ‘Seagull’, which was originally written as a poem 25 years ago, the song deals with the aftermath of a relationship that had reached a premature end.
And now, with his tuneful, universal debut album, this gifted musician is ready to speak to people in a whole new winning way.
Click below to listen to or purchase Echoes now!