I would love to see my sons as competitors: Shankar Mahadevan

Singer, musician Shankar Mahadevan is on a musical high, and not just for his own accomplishments this time, but also because both his sons, Shivam and Siddharth, have been nominated for an upcoming music award. “It feels great,” reacts Shankar. 

“It’s always a pleasure to be nominated for a music award over any other film award you know. It kind of holds more value and relevance to me.” Shankar’s sons have been nominated for the Global Indian Music Academy award for the best debut category for the album Ganaraj Adhiraj, along with music director Gulraj Singh, while Shankar himself is a part of the jury.

And while Shankar is happy and pleased, how are the boys reacting to this, given that it’s a first nomination for them? “Oh, they are kids still. They have a long way to go. It’s just a little moment of rejoicing. They are just having fun and making music at the same time… Also, they’re pretty cool about it, not really flattered by the glam bit but just happy to be nominated,” he adds.

Ask him if he thinks his kids are budding musicians, and he replies, “I do not want to pre-judge anything. They are hardcore musicians at heart. But other than that I don’t want to tag them with anything yet. I just want them to remain children and not miss out on the childhood fun… learn more, think more, play more…” So would he like to see them grow up to be his competitors? “I’d love it. I’d love to see them as people who overtake me tenfolds. I’d be very proud to be called as their father rather than they being called my sons,” says Shankar, emphasising that the trio are like “buddies at home.”

“My elder son Siddhartha is already a composer. He’s composed music for a very popular Marathi show called Devyani, along with my nephew Soumil. And the title track itself has gone viral now. Plus they have just composed the song for Deepa Mehta’s film — Midnight’s Children,” he further reveals. “So looks like they’re going to be musicians (smiles), but I would never force them into anything or draw a boundary,” he ends.