Lucky Ali

Lucky Ali, the doe-eyed singer, with the power of his soulful, mellow music has successfully emerged from the shadow of his illustrious father - comedian Mehmood. Born under the name 'Maqsood Mehmood Ali', Lucky Ali stepped into music completely by chance.

Lucky, born Maqsood Ali Khan, is the second of Mehmood's eight children. Half-Bengali and from a family that has been in the industry for years, he did not lack the requisite opportunity to make his debut as an actor. And act, he did. First, in Shyam Benegal's Trikaal, where he played Erasmo, the young Portuguese doctor who comes home to get married. He worked with Benegal again in Discovery of India, in which he played Ashoka's brother Tissa, who was instrumental in drawing him towards a path of non-violence.

Mehmood being in the film industry, music directors and singers constantly dropped in to meet him and that’s when the music bug bit him. Although Lucky was interested in music, he never dreamt that he'd take it up seriously. But music eventually found him, and when he realised he was made for it, he finally decided to pursue music as his career as he felt it came naturally to him.

Lucky used to jam with Mike McCleary, his brother-in-law pretty often. Even though they did it just for fun and never thought of releasing an album, they kept recording their tracks. When they finished recording ten tracks, they wanted to see if anyone was interested in releasing them as an album. They started approaching music companies in both India as well as England, but since no one wanted to take a risk, they wanted the album for free, and would give them a contract only if the album did well.

Lucky was confident of his music and knew his songs would do well. He finally got a contract and released his debut album called 'Sunoh'. It was 1996. An Indian song ‘O Sanam’, an Egyptian mystery, bright blue eyes behind a burkha and the promise of a man who would take Indian pop out of the rut it was in.

Sunoh lived up to its reputation. Songs like 'Pyar Ka Musafir' and the title track itself, with their minimalist arrangements, relied on simple melodies and the purity of Lucky’s voice. Not only did 'Sunoh' do well and sell over four lakh copies, but it established Lucky as a pop singer and catapulted him to fame! It did especially well in Delhi and Calcutta, with a predominantly female fan following.

Lucky’s second album, Sifar released by Sony music in 1997 didn’t fare as well. The album is a journey into the human soul, and starts from the beginning, which is why he called it 'Sifar'. Each song speaks of discovery and birth. Launched with another landmark Mathai video (this time featuring the American iconic Route 66), the first release, 'Yeh bhi' was a beautiful song about the road well traveled and that sudden sense of deja vu.

Most of Lucky's songs are lilting melodies and the lyrics carry a meaning which the listeners can instantly connect to. What Lucky simply does is to sing lighthearted, pretty songs that are upbeat and reflect the new found hope and peace that he feels in his life.

Lucky also made it big as a playback singer with his first foray into films. 'Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai', his debut effort, had him singing two numbers for Rakesh Roshan, the music director... 'Ek pal ka jeena' and 'Na tum jaano na hum'. Both his songs did really well, and 'Na tum jaano na hum' also won Lucky his first Filmfare award for best male playback singer.

Marriage, proved to be a stabilising influence to lucky Ali.. Lucky, today, is a keen Muslim and his faith is apparent in his choice of name for his son Ta'Awwuz.

In more recent times, he also acted in the television serial, Zara Hatke. Shyam Benegal remembers Ali as keen and hardworking. He not only acted in Benegal's projects, but also assisted the director when he was making Susman. Recently he has acted in a commercial Hindi Cinema 'Sur' that earned him accolades as an actor.

Awards won by Lucky Ali :
Award           Song        Movie
• Filmfare Award - 2000 Ek Pal Ka Jeena - Kaho Na Pyar Hai
• 6th Annual Sansui Viewers Choice Movie Award Sur
• AV Max Awards Aa bhi Jaa - Sur
• 9th Star Screen Award Sur
• Stardust Awards Best Debut (Male) - 2003 Sur
• IIFA Best Playback Singer (Male) - 2003 Aa bhi Jaa - Sur
• Bollywood Awards Best Debut (Male) - 2002 Sur
• Bollywood Awards Best Playback Singer (Male) – 2002

Trivia:
1) It may sound unbelievable, but Lucky first used to breed race horses in the US. Then later on he sold carpets in his friends' showroom, and even worked in an oil rig in Pondicherry!


2) His wife, Masoom, who features in the video of his first released song 'O Sanam’, as the blue eyed woman in a burqua, is a New Zealander.


3) His first album “Sunoh” won him several awards including Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards and the Channel V Viewers’ Choice Award (1997).


4) 'Sunoh' stayed on the MTV Asia Charts for over 60 weeks.


5) BMG Crescendo, the label under which Sunoh has hit the market, claims that the album has already sold over 100, 000 copies.


6) Currently Lucky is settled in Oakland, New Zealand, where he farms potatoes in between working on his new album.


7) He is the nephew of Meena Kumari, one of the great actresses to grace the Indian screen.


8) Lucky is second of Mahmood’s eight children.


9) His first composition was a three-chord lament called 'Nobody Loves Me'.


10) He was gifted his first guitar at 13 and he taught himself to play it without any formal education in music.