Mika is happy

A lot is happening on the acting front...
I���m through with the shooting of Loot and the sequel to Tom Dick and Harry is also on the floors. Anna (Suniel Shetty) is a close friend and when he asked me to act in his film, Loot, I couldn���t refuse. Similarly, I was signed up to sing a number in the TDAH sequel, but the director offered me a role and I agreed.Personal equations work for me.
Does that mean Mika���s priorities are changing?
No way. Shows feature high on my priority list. Look at Akshay Kumar, SRK, Saif Ali Khan ��� they do one or two films a year and concentrate on shows. My case is similar. I���m offered Rs 30 lakh for a role but for that I need to shoot for at least 20 days. I can make the same money through five shows, which means only five days of work! Sochiye, jiska dukan Kolkata mein hain, woh kyun Mumbai jake struggle karega?
Woodstock Villa has repopularised your Saawan mein lag gayi aag...
Eight years back, Sanjay Gupta had called me up, expressing his desire to use the song in his film. But he met with an accident and things went haywire. So, again when he made a move on that front, I was floored. He approached the company, bought the rights, made Anu Malek do the music and spent the same amount of money, that went into making my whole album! Now, what stands out in the flick is my song. Even if it���s not meant to be, my songs end up becoming the title tracks.
You seem to have moved away from your nasal tone singing...
After me, everyone started singing in a nasal tone. The trend that I set, was only popularised by Himesh Reshammiya. Then the others like Atif Aslam followed suit. The woman who sang Billo Rani, has also used a nasal tone. All this made me change my style. Now, I have 10
voices. If today Sonu Niggaam, Uditji or Sukhwinder sings a song, people will immediately understand who has sung it. I sound different in Saawan mein, E ganpat and Mauja hi mauja. I���m attached to the latter. After all, Bollywoodwale Punjabi nahin ga sakte. About Pritam, he���s a good friend. Look, so many plagiarism charges have been slapped against him... but so far no one pointed out anything about this number. I���m now looking forward to two of my songs from Mission Istanbul and Singh is Kinng.
Did this need to stand out differently make you throw your weight around on reality shows?
Almost saare singers judge ban gaye hain. I need to be different. So, I took part in reality shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 2 and Jhoom India. I refused a Bigg Boss offer. About JDJ 2, it was a good
experience, but maine pehle se hi bol diya tha, mujhe jeetna nahin hai, aur agar main jeetne pe aa gaya to mujhe koi hara nahin sakta. Truly, votes came pouring in. It would be around 2.5 lakh in a
couple of hours, whereas, participants like Mona Singh would get the same number of votes on the whole. Because of me, good dancers like Sudha Chandran got ousted. So, when I reached the top 5, I decided to bow out.
What about your equation with brother Daler Mehndi?
I have never cashed in on his popularity. Kareena was a star the moment she entered this industry, thanks to Karisma Kapoor. That was never the case with me.
Is the Rakhi Sawant chapter closed? You had released a music video on the kissa kiss ka, when Rakhi was in the house of Bigg Boss...
That���s because even after we called truce on the sets of Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, she didn���t withdraw the case. Just to let people know what was the real story, I did the song, Bhai tune pappi kyun li. It had nothing to do with Rakhi being in the house of Bigg Boss. I would have done the number anyways.
What if a movie is offered against Rakhi?
Jisko maine hi heroine banaya, uske saath kya kaam karna?