I'm the item boy of Bollywood

Honey Singh needs no introduction. No stranger to controversies, his songs are consistent chartbusters and everyone from the top Khans to Himesh Reshammiya are almost willing to eat out of his hands for that one promotional number that will kick-start their box office booty. The blue-eyed boy of Bollywood is very pleased with all the attention. "When superstars invite you to sing for their films you can't say no. People make 400 songs and four of them turn out to be hits. I make just four to five songs a year and you people like all of them and make me a hit," he says.

The beginnings of his star-studded journey are humble though. He started off as a music director based in Punjab. "I started off as a music director and I have launched many singers in Punjab, who are big names today," Honey says. That was the start of his fortunes. "I have been an award-winning music director in Punjab for about six years. Then I started singing. Having been associated with the music industry for such a long period I knew the goings on of the business well. I had done my homework," he adds.

Once he turned singer, there was no stopping the phenomenon called "Honey Singh". Along with fame, came the controversies too. First it was the song Main Hoon Balatkari due to which Honey found himself in trouble. Then there were talks about hiding his marriage and the death hoax. The man somehow is always in the news. Quiz him about it and he says, "Main controversy ka shikaar ho gaya. It is not something I did intentionally. I had already achieved fame before all this happened. Jab naya koi aata hai, log rokne ki koshish karte hai, kisi bhi tarah, jab who nai rukta logon ko samajh aata hai, yeh to nahi ruknewala."

The singer makes it clears that he does not care much for critics who continue to accuse him of composing similar songs. He says, "I don't make songs for my critics, I make them for fans. How many critics do I have? A hundred or a thousand or a lakh? Compare that with 100 crore people who love me. I work for them. I don't think about my critics at all. They don't bother me."

After sweeping Bollywood off its feet, Honey is now setting foot in the small screen with Raw Star (Star Plus). "A raw star' is someone who learns himself. When I was a music director, I never took away the originality of my singers. I used to work on packaging and presenting their voices. Even now, as a singer, I work on my lyrics and presentation and I ensure that I maintain my originality. Even though I am a Punjabi, I wrote Lungi Dance, which followed the South Indian style. The whole country loved it. And now people around the world know me too because of that song," he says. Speaking more about the show, he adds, "We have been working on the show for about eight to nine months now. I keep touring, so the team would have to follow me wherever I went. Even if we managed to squeeze in half an hour, we would have a fruitful discussion. I will be shooting for this show, every Monday for 14 weeks. Musical mentoring will be less. I intend to be more of an inspiration rather than a mentor. I want to support them as a brother, and make them believe that if I could do it, so can they."

Among his next projects is an international album, Honey reveals. For that he wants to collaborate with Mohan, a Bhojpuri contestant on the show. "We plan to make the Bhojpuri hit Lollypop Lage Lu an international hit. I also plan to take my own hits like Blue Eyes and go global with them," he says. His next album is a non-filmi one. "It's called Desi Kalakaar. I will be singing in it and not just rapping," he says.

He may be referred to as a pop star or a rapping sensation, but Honey believes that he is the "complete package". The "item boy of Bollywood" is what he would like to call himself. Not one to mince words, Honey says, "I have always been an item boy. Besides singing, I workout a lot to maintain a good physique. I believe Mumbai is one city that truly recognises your talent."

With so much success, it's odd and perhaps even endearing that he still considers himself a struggler. "I am still a struggler, I believe struggle never ends. I never take my name and fame for granted." And his musical inspiration could well be the widest range ever. "From Ghulam Ali to Michael Jackson, I listen to artistes of every genre."