Up and away

Mona

Soft-spoken and humble, this 24-year-old lad doesn’t want an introduction into the music industry with the label of a ‘star son’. So when on Wednesday, Avkash Mann shared notes about his single, Away, due to be released on July 13, his famous dad — Harbhajan Mann — was nowhere in the picture!

“Oh no, his not being here isn’t due to my idea of making it on my own; he’s a busy man, he isn’t going to put breaks just because his son is here,” he says.

Big break

Trained in classical, western classical and in acting across the globe — right from Punjab to Vancouver and New York — it wasn’t a deliberate call to make a debut with an English pop song. “I have been working on multiple projects, just that this one clicked and before I knew it AWAL took it on for distribution.” That it’s an internationally known label that’s releasing his first single makes Avkash self-assured to some degree, but he makes no bones that he is also anxious, excited, hopeful and fearful all at the same time.

That he would be compared to his dad is not his concern though. “I have grown up with an idea of being an artiste and my father always insisted that we would both have individual journeys.” 

In dad’s footsteps

Avkash has written, composed and sung this number and duly features in it. Does it take from ‘his’ life? “Not really. Away addresses a transition from some trying circumstances, which anyone and everyone can relate to it. A pop number with some alternative R&B and melancholy notes, this one, shot in black and white, looks rather sharp from its teaser.” Punjabi numbers are as much on his cards as films. And, definitely, a collaboration with his famous dad! “We do have something very exciting in its initial stages,” he smiles.

Amongst the major influences on his musical journey, apart from his father, are Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Drake and Enrique Iglesias. 

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Talent pool

Avkash Mann is a man of many passions. He loves to compose, sing and also write — not just songs, but also short stories and fiction. He’s a voracious reader too just like his mum and dad. He is currently reading Dance Dance Dance, a masterpiece by Haruki Murakami.

Dad — a mentor or friend?

“Bit of both actually. He is amiable, but he also has that look that I dread. I fear upsetting him so much that I never venture out to do anything that may make him frown. I am fortunate to have such a role model right at home; I better keep up to it.”