Superstar next door

Not many in this part of the country would know Naresh Iyer but all would be familiar with his voice, as this 25-year-old from Mumbai is the one behind hit youth anthems from Rang De Basanti — Rubaroo, Masti Ki Pathshala and Tu Bin Bataye.
It was at Channel V’s talent hunt Super Singer that AR Rahman had spotted Naresh and had offered him an opportunity to sing for his next movie, RDB. Soon thereafter, Naresh walked into the recording studio, little realising what future had in store for him. “It was after 12 hours of recording that Rahman asked me to sing Rubaroo at 4.30 am. I was dead tired, but who would miss such an opportunity? I recorded the song but made a mistake in two lines. Though Rahman was supposed to sing the track himself later, when the film’s music was released, I came to know that he had used my track. The part where I had made a mistake was sung by Rahman and thus I got to share credit for this song with him. This was my first Hindi film and I can just thank my stars for this,” he says.
Naresh, who was in Delhi to record a song for a new movie on cricket, adds, “Some of my Tamil songs are topping the charts and I’ve recorded Hindi songs too.” The singer is a foodie too. He says, “I love spicy food and on my next trip to Delhi, I’ll visit the walled city. I’ll also buy some funky clothes as after RDB, I try to keep the image of a hip-hop artiste.” The stardom bug has not yet bitten him and he can be mistaken for the boy next door.