You are trained in classical piano, can you tell something about this ?
I can’t say I’m actually trained in the piano. At the boarding school in the UK, it was compulsory to play a musical instrument so I tried my hand at the piano and the violin. So, yes while I did learn to play the piano, I wasn’t particularly proficient and it did not excite me in the way the guitar did.

When did you pick up the guitar and what are your rock influences ?
When I was 13 years old in the boarding school, I bumped into a guy with red hair playing the Spanish guitar. He was strumming `Black Night’ by Deep Purple and he asked me to buy the album. I think that was the day rock turned me on and ever since, the guitar has always been a part of who I am. I have always been influenced by classic rock - like Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Deep Purple - the bands that gave birth to rock music as we know it. 

Who are you guitar favourites?
Again, largely the classic guitarists - Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young of ACDC. Among the slightly more modern guitarists, I would say Eddie Van Halen.

Name some of your favourite songs of classical rock and contemporary rock ?
I completely love almost everything in the first four Led Zeppelin albums. Not just the standard hits like `A stairway to heaven’  but also the under-appreciated ballads like `Thank you’. I would love to have been a part of that whole magical experience when a few bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were creating music unlike anything heard before, where every riff and every melody was changing music forever.

When was the first time you performed professionally on stage ?
Well, I did perform with school bands and amateur bands in Delhi, my first professional performance was at a Seagram show with Parikrama about two years ago to a crowd of close to 20,000 people.  

What is the difference between acting on the screen and playing guitar on stage?
There is an immediacy to performing on stage that you cannot compare to anything else. There are no retakes, no second chances. Every thing is for real and you get one shot at 60 minutes of perfection. 

Will you be performing regularly on stage now?
Unfortunately, my acting commitments do not allow me to perform more on stage. While I hope there will be more opportunities, it’s just possible that this tour is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I hope my fans in Bangalore will be there to watch it live.

MEET SAIF...
Two lucky ticket-buyers will have the exclusive opportunity to meet the Bollywood heartthrob on Friday. All they have to do is buy a ticket, and two lucky winners at the concert will get to meet Saif Ali Khan in flesh! Tickets for the concert, priced between Rs 450 an Rs 600 in all cities, will be available on www.bookmyshow.com and select Coffee Day, Landmark, Sukh Sagar and Music World outlets. 

DHNS