DJ Akbar Sami set to make his acting debut

DJ Akbar Sami set to make his acting debut

    He’s widely known as the man who introduced Bollywood to remixes at a time when it was the exception rather than the rule. Now, at 40, Akbar Sami is all set to make his acting debut (unlike cameos he has done in the past). He will play a negative character called Ghoda Bhai in the film Fattu Saala.
    A self-taught disc jockey (DJ), Sami started spinning tunes on the console pretty early. As early as the 80s. He claims, “I introduced DJing and house music in India.” A fact few might argue with, but the claim could have factual basis. Before Sami, no one had attained the kind of success and reach his remixed tracks had. He was perhaps the first to reach out to the Marathi audience with his remixes. In the late 90s, he released three albums: Jalwa, Jadoo and Jalwa II, which cemented his position as the go-to DJ in the country.
    Since then, he has found favour on foreign shores quite frequently. “I even received an award from the mayor of San Francisco last year,” he shares. It is in recognition of his continued popularity in the city after touring the US for more than a decade. His multi-city tours are well-heeled club affairs that mainly feature house and disco funk. In fact, some of his most popular spins in America are house beats mixed with healthy doses of Bollywood. “You’ll be surprised to know that in Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington) and San Francisco (California), the crowd know the lyrics. It truly is a sight to watch.”
    He also talks about the reasons why most DJs in Bollywood today have little or no brand recall, “You have to have the craft (of DJing) within you. You have to bring the passion to the table. And if you do, it shows. What you see these days is not natural, not very original.”
    On a parting note, he also talks about his family and the personal issues he has been dealing with for a few years. Akbar alleges that his ailing mother was cheated by her own daughters in order to gain access to her property.
    Since then, he has tried to change the situation but he is disheartened with the limited progress in the case. He rues, “Senior citizens don’t get their rights,” he says, referring to the “bad phase” his mother went through. She was “cheated by her daughters in a court case that lasted two years with no justice in sight. She was beaten brutally and harassed and it’s upsetting that nobody can do anything about it. This shouldn’t happen to anyone, ever.”

DJ Akbar Sami