Delhi rapper's song finds place in upcoming Singh is Bling

It is late evening and at first glance no one would be able to guess that this 20-something young man (26) nervously clutching his helmet and worrying about his scooter parked outside, is a rapper. In fact, if things go well, he may be one of India's new upcoming rap stars. Ask him his name and he responds Bondstyle 'Aditya, Aditya Parihar aka FAADU.' The word sounds funny. It becomes funnier when he breaks into an impromptu rap, which he has written himself in Hindi, English and Punjabi. Aditya aka FAADU, may become Bollywood's new voice in rap. The chorus of his song Kash Koi Mil Jaaye will be showcased in the film Gurgaon and two other songs of his will be used in the movie. The film is directed by Shankar Raman and will star Akshay Oberoi of Piku fame. "I had to change the song as the earlier version had lyrics that were too explicit," he says. Word seems to have got around and another of Aditya's rap songs has been given to the upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer Singh is Bling. Though the music producers love it, he assures that things are still in the planning stage. In films, one never knows, he says. That's why Aditya, who is a pharmaceutical analyst by day and FAADU the rapper by night, 'keeps it real.' So far, neither his parents, nor his younger sister have been told of his film dreams, though, he says, they know of his desire to rap all night. Even his colleagues don't know that he is a rapper, writes lyrics and then rehearses and mixes with his friend JB - also a professional rapper - in their flat in Madhu Vihar in East Delhi, after which he uploads them on YouTube. That is how indeed the makers of Gurgaon discovered him.

Unlike Honey Singh, Aditya believes in keeping it real and real means talking about his life. Ek Cigarette talks about students and the need to smoke; Ek Din - one of his favourite tracks talks about the dreams of making it big, while returning home in an auto. But a very popular one is 50 Ladkiyan where Aditya, who was a student of a Delhi engineering college, talks about his frustration at the fact that there not enough girls in his college. Talking to FAADU opens up the world of Hindi, sorry Indian rap. Through him, a world of over 2,000 rappers rapping in Hindi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi etc., all confident of making it big, which still means Bollywood, as TV reality shows won't have them, has opened up. And while the doors to filmdom are opening, albeit slowly to this new trend; concerts involving rap artistes are becoming popular in colleges such as DU, IIT and birthday bashes, where payments for their performances are slowly rising. The drawbacks though are there - the high cost of studio rentals where mixing is essential - the lack of understanding and sometimes even disapproval of parents who regard rap as an alien art form with a lot of sexism and bad language. This stereotype is true to an extent as many of these young men - it is mostly young men - who plaster their songs with the popular disclaimer 'Danger - Explicit Lyrics'. Just the like West, rapping seems to be becoming a macho culture here too. On being asked whether he would give up his job if he makes it big in music, he quips: "Of course, if I make it. Rapping is my life."