Music and love unite people and cultures everywhere. And, in yet another endearing such uniting, music led the singer Furkat Azamov to find both music and romance with the Queen of Indipop and legendary singer Alisha Chinai. Their relationship started with them hearing each other’s voice and then finding their way to each other, with Furkat finding love after decades long search and wait, thanks to cassettes and now social media. And, happily for us, Alisha Chinai and Furkat Azamov shared their journey and their music projects in a chat with Jay Kumar on Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show.
Opening their story with their first collaboration ‘Chamkega India’, Alisha said that she didn’t consciously recreate Made in India. She had the lyrics “Chamkegi bindiya, Chamkega India” in mind and she needed catchy and hummable melodies. When Furkat played a couple of tunes, the music clicked into place and soon they started working on the music and the video, which was shot in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The filmy love story
Bringing some time perspective into this and sharing how their journey started, Furkat mentioned how he had always wanted to work with her and found her after hearing her decades ago- when cassettes ruled the roost and CDs were an upcoming thing back then. Furkat said, “ I was passing through a bazaar when he visited a cassette shop where Alisha’s voice was playing.” Entranced by the voice, he set about finding her and lacking face to the name, was only able to finally reach out to her in 2020 through a Facebook interview. “He basically brought me out of the lockdown,” Alisha said. While hesitant initially, she gave him a chance after hearing his songs. She felt their tunes matched and when they spoke, sparks flew for hours and when they videocalled, it became electric. “He actually manifested himself, which is awesome. I mean, even I couldn’t believe it and 2 years later, here we are. And he is really romantic.”
On the actual music itself, Alisha and Furkat concurred on the popularity of Indian music through Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan. Indian songs are played everywhere and it transpired that Furkat had listened to Alisha’s song ‘Zooby Zooby’ in Dance Dance movie, that was a rage throughout the region and set Furkat on fire. Furkat had picked one of those Indian music mixtapes and kept searching for Alisha, which brought him to India and in fact, right to Alisha’s house lane itself !
The video for Chamkega India, though shot in Uzbekistan, is very much a tribute to India and the longing all have for the Motherland. “No matter where you travel, you will always want to come back home to India. And everything that’s Indian is always close to my heart. India is sabse sona mera”. And fortunately, they didn’t have creative differences and everything was “in sync” as Furkat added.
Closing off on the regular couple life, Alisha and Furkat have their romantic moments and fights too, but “In the end, the outcome is always great” chimes in Furkat. Alisha and Furkat are also now able to communicate better, with Furkat’s English getting better and better. “Before I couldn’t figure out what he was saying half of the time. Earlier we used to get lost in the translation. But, I would keep smiling.” Alisha chuckles. And, apparently Furkat can sing in Hindi though he doesn’t understand a single word yet !
We, at Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show, couldn’t be happier for both of them and wish them the very best of happiness. Stay tuned to Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show for more updates on their next projects and developments.
