~~AMEY HOUSE~~
By: Amey fans 😊
Name: AMEY DATE
Date of Birth: March 31, 1979
Age: 36 (10 years from now)
Place of Birth: Mumbai
Currently Residing in: Mumbai
Education: Undergraduate from Ruperal College, Mumbai
Family: Parents are separated. Has elder sister, Aparna
Guru: Suresh Wadekar
Amey sat cross-legged on the plush blue carpet of his music room. His four-year-old son Abhay sat across from him with an eager expression on his impish face. Abhay wanted to be just like his father and enjoyed watching him practice everyday. In between the two was an old harmonium; the same one Amey had practiced on for years when he was a student learning music from his guru Suresh Wadekar ji.
Nowadays Amey is a guru to many aspiring singers who are desperate to learn everything that had made him so famous. But what made Amey particularly satisfied was that now he was able to share his knowledge with Aniruddh, his close friend Connie's son. It was after all a very small price for all the support Connie had given him and his fans during his rise to fame.
But the fame didn't come easy. And it wasn't easy to teach ambitious, impatient students that it takes much more than a good voice and proper 'sur' to become a star. It seemed impossible to impart his 36 years of knowledge and experience in one-hour sessions with his students.
It was only after years of hardships that Amey rose to heights of success, his talent got recognized, his voice was appreciated, and he became someone whom everyone wanted to be; he became a national icon. Ten years ago, when he lost the Indian Idol title, he had known he would eventually overcome the setback just as he had after placing second in the SaReGaMa mega finals in 1998. His renditions of Madhuban mein Radhika, Thaiya Thaiya and Parda Hai in SaReGaMa had garnered him praises from an elite panel of judges including the likes of Zakir Hussein and M.S. Subalakshmi. Amey knew he had the potential in him and was determined to prove Pandit Jasraj's statement about Amey being a moti ('pearl'), right.
His exit from Idol had resulted in an offer from music director/Idol judge Anu Malik. Amey thought this was the break he had been waiting for. Though some critics appreciated Amey's voice, the song's poor lyrics and unoriginal music made it a failure and Amey was soon forgotten. People vaguely remembered his name as a contestant who had once brought glory to the Indian Idol stage with his superb performances and was now a lost talent.
Amey's friend, Avadhut, who owned a recording studio, tried to help out Amey by arranging meeting with several music directors but all Amey got was empty promises.
Following the Anu Malik disaster, Amey was in despair thinking that his talent would be wasted just like so many other people in India. But he wasn't completely shattered. His mother, Daksha Date and his elder sister Aparna, were and still remain the strongest pillars in his life, and they always supported him. Even though his parents were divorced, Amey felt, his mother more than made up for the absence of his father.
A singer herself, Daksha encouraged him from a young age to participate in small singing shows and background choruses.
Daksha remained the most important woman in his life even when he got married 3 years after Idol, to one of the Idol contestants, and Amey's favourite female singer, Meenal Jain.
It seemed that after his marriage, things started to fall into place for Amey. It was always Amey's dream to find the perfect person to spend the rest of his life with, and he had found that perfect someone in Meenal. Meenal and Amey had many of the same tastes- a passion for music, a great love for nature and trekking, an addiction to the Discovery Channel, a never-ending appetite for seafood, and an obsession for card games. Amey felt that at least one aspect of his life had worked out and he was immensely happy. This happiness and the desire to fulfill the rest of his old dreams fuelled Amey's ambition once again to overcome his failures and prove his detractors wrong.
It just so happened that soon after, Amey received an invitation to attend the album release party of his fellow Indian Idol contestant and winner of the competition- NC Karunya. Karunya was still doing well and was already on his fourth album. Amey was hesitant at first but his wife convinced him that it was a good opportunity to meet people. Little did Amey know that waiting to meet him at the party was the most popular music director duo, Vishal-Shekhar. They churned out hit after hit on the Bollywood music scene and were looking for the perfect voice to give playback for the hottest young actor around. And they found that voice they were looking for when Karunya made Amey sing "Laga Chunri" and "Tadap Tadap Ke Is Dil Se" in the party. Vishal-Shekar knew they had found the perfect playback singer.
From that day on there was no looking back for Amey. He went from being an obscure ex-contestant on Indian Idol to becoming the biggest craze in India. He recorded a solo song titled 'Aasman Se Ooncha'. While the slower version of the song was critically acclaimed, the remix version was what rocked every single party. Playback offers started pouring in and private albums were recorded. But Amey thought it would be better to be more cautious in his decisions. He became extremely careful when selecting from the offers because any mistake at this stage could cost him the hard-earned stardom; he had to wait for the right opportunity.
And that opportunity came in the form of AR Rehman. Rehman was looking for the right voice to match the likes of Nihira Joshi for the song 'Zindagi Ke Rahi Hai', but no one fitted the bill. Rehman was beginning to doubt if he could ever find the right voice, until he had heard the winner of the 'RD Burman Upcoming Music Talent award' crone to a medley of songs, ranging from Atif's 'Juda Hoke bhi' to Sonu Nigam's 'Tanhayee' to Hariharan's 'Tu hi re'. Rehman had heard Amey's song for Vishal-Shekhar before, but Amey's performance in the concert spoke volumes of his versitality and strength in classical singing- a quality Rehman had been looking for.
Rehman invited Amey to the studio along with Nihira. The moment the first note was struck, Amey knew that this song would be a rage; he knew that it would take him closer towards his dream of becoming a great playback singer. And he was proven right. The trio of Rehman, Nihira and Amey had proven to be deadly. Amey won awards left, right and centre for his singing; the whole country was suffering from a highly contagious disease--Ameyria. Some raved about his looks, some raved about the classical touch in his voice, and others raved about his versitality. He was also recently felicitated with a padmashree title by the President of India for his valuable contribution to India's musical heritage. He had become a star.
The music room Amey and his son were sitting in had shelves lined with these awards, his albums and posters. He looked around and wondered how one person could be so lucky to have gained so much love and success. Just then his son Abhay banged his tiny hand on his fathers knee and said "Papa, gaon na?" Amey smiled and began singing for his youngest student…"Tum jo mil gaye ho…jaahan mil gaya"
He Was Late But An Idol Nonetheless
A Legend
** THANKS to everyone who contributing anything to this post!!!! even if ur ideas were not used!!!! Special thanks goes to Karishma, from all Amey fans 🤗, and thanks to everyone else**
Edited by karish89 - 19 years ago
Anupamaa
