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Walking Down Lucky’s Alley

Walking Down Lucky’s Alley

While tracing Lucky Ali’s footsteps from his glory days of Indie-pop to the rather mellow days as an agriculturist, one would stumble upon unabashed failures, a spate of mundane jobs, Bollywood-loathing, and a bunch of angst-y family ties. Do these life events act as foundation bricks to his melancholic yet soulful music? Read on and decide for yourself. 

In Rakesh Roshan’s commercial hit Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Lucky Ali was the voice of two magnificent songs – a sorrow-addled “Na Tum Jaano Na Hum” and the other was an oxymoronic “Ek Pal Ka Jeena”. Why oxymoronic because his hoarse voice usually is associated with a heap of sadness. But what happened was that the song turned out to be a dance number picturised in a discotheque where fresher Hrithik Roshan flaunted his dance moves and flexed his egg-shaped biceps. Looking at the record of a man whose husky voice has maneuvered his songs to themes of hope, longing or optimism, the song became a runaway hit and the credit duly went to Ali.

Maqsood Mehmood Ali, who journeyed life with the nickname Lucky Ali, had a lineage carved in stone. But being the son of legendary comical actor Mehmood and the nephew of Meena Kumari was no boasting matter for Ali. Guilty of being born with a silver spoon, Ali thought himself no different than any other artist. In an interview with Shekhar Suman on his show Movers and Shakers, Ali expresses he had to “work as hard as any common man on the street”. Before embarking on the journey of music he faced not-so-lucky fortunes at rather mundane jobs like selling carpets, breeding horses, working on an oil rig, and organic farming, before he struck gold with his debut album Sunoh and its hit song “O Sanam”, which released in 1996.

Ali’s voice was a shout out to ears yearning for alternate sounds in the 90s. So much so, that his songs unmistakably had heralded the idea in the minds of Bollywood behemoths to suck his music in. Kingpins of the indie world like Daler Mehandi, Anaida Shroff, Shaan, Alisha Chinoy, Sonu Nigam and many others, who were grappling the rope of indie-music-to-popularity then, were slowly and steadily being gulped by the big fish, and the remaining were left scampering about, stuck in the “fight them or join them” conundrum.  Ali was indeed lucky to be revered for his musical cadre to furnish his voice, if not with his compositions, to the Hindi film industry.

An adherer of simplistic living and an immovable believer in the go-with-the-flow attitude of life, Ali always latched on to things his heart felt for. People questioned his 5 year sabbatical from 2004 to 2009 until his album “Xsiue”. But he surefootedly silenced naysayers with elaborating on his unbreakable bond with agriculture. Not getting embroiled in the competition of things, Ali in fact took those 5 years to evaluate himself and grow as an artist. Always having a soft spot for agriculture, in 2006, he sang at Delhi’s Siri Fort auditorium to express his support at the ‘Oxfam Make Trade Fair’ that convinced people to sign a petition to save farmers against exploitation.

Lucky Ali, the recluse

Least bothered about his appearance, Ali usually dresses in a loose hanging kurta and slips into faded shoes even on interviews relayed on national television. Who knows what’s hidden behind those fret lines and unkempt look? Was it the tepid relationship with his father who was always out on shoots which made him question, whenever his father came home, “Isn’t that the actor Mehmood?”? Was it being raised among 8 children? Was it his encounter with marijuana, which eventually compelled him to pen a script for the 1996 film Dushman Duniya Ka? Best thing one could surmise from all this is that it shaped his music in a darned unique way. His songs were laced with sadness. But there was still a respite one felt going back to his music.

Lucky Ali’s Sifar

After creating a spate of 6 albums including Sifar, Aks, Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai, Xsuie and Raasta Man, and having 18 Bollywood songs to his name, his reluctant destiny with Hindi cinema didn’t see an end. In 2002, he revived the actor in him with his official debut in Sur – The Melody of Life. Followed by a string of small roles in a modest number of films, Ali’s disliking towards the mainstream industry grew until he decided he was always meant for the indie and would continue making music only in the indie sphere. In the recent past, his adoption of agriculture as a way of life has found him a cloud of solace. Finally, there’s someone who does not want to break into mainstream, but instead loves lingering within the realm of the indie. It’s the same logic as – someone who’s seen money all his life will not run behind it like a cocaine-snorting mongrel. So for once, the essence of indie has reared its unrecognized head and the ‘commercial’ has been sidestepped.

In 2012, the ride on MTV Unplugged’s second season was a comeback of sorts for Ali to the indie scene with “O Sonam” getting a revamp. Despite having aged, consumed and left with a strained breath, his ethereal voice continues to slither to the interiors of the epidermis reviving a spine chilling nostalgia.

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