Arun Shankar says, ‘When doors were shut on my face I decided to create work for myself’
Arun Shankar wears many hats with élan. The actor, director, producer, singer and rapper, whose upcoming single Hum is all set to go live shares that though it gets tiring at times, he enjoys multi-tasking. The fact that he is constantly busy with work is something he feels positive about. “It does get taxing at times but then I enjoy doing what I do. I like to keep myself constantly busy with work because earlier when I had no work, I would curse my luck. It was devastating, a disturbing phase and I don’t wish to go back there,” he says. Quite early on in his career, especially after he landed in Mumbai, he understood that one needs to create his/her own path.
“No one would hand over anything to anyone. You got to get it for yourself. I have been through several disappointments due to rejections, false assurances and failures before realising how to go about things. That’s when I started developing my skills,” he adds. When doors were shut on his face he had no option but to create work for himself. Shankar feels by “God’s grace and hard work” he managed to change his circumstances.
“It’s all the more difficult for an outsider to break in, with no connections in the fraternity. It becomes next to impossible to find your fix here. One needs to have the resilience to never give up and find his/her own way. That’s what I did. Today when I get work, along with me another 100 people also get employed,” says the multi-talented artiste. Talking about how the pandemic has hit the music industry hard, Shankar feels things are slowly getting back to better and adds that the future of singers in India is bright and trending.
“The pandemic has definitely put a big dent on our livelihood and we, collectively as a nation, and the world, are trying to get our lives back on track. Yes a major part of a singer’s earning, comes from live shows. Fans too enjoy watching their favourite artiste perform, but situations now are different. However, concerts have slowly started happening but not in large numbers. Soon things would be better and to witness those times we need to take care now, wear a mask, maintain distance and sanitise,” he says.