Wembley, London, October 29, 2006.

At a press conference that announced the film Aap Kaa Surroor - The Moviee, Himesh Reshammiya had this to tell me: “When I started out, these people said that a young TV producer could never compete with the big names then.

But my very first serial Andaz and its title song were whopping hits, and I gave more too. I faced the same scepticism with my first film Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, in which my only song was the film’s biggest hit despite other composers’ contributions. When I began singing with Aashiq Banaya Aapne they called my hits a fluke.

But 30 “flukes” followed in less than ten months and all that they were left with was to attack a nasal voice and make fun of my looks. Now after the announcement of my movie, they will positively certify me as a lunatic! But I have not come into the industry to make a fool of myself. Main jo kar rahaa hoon soch samajhke kar rahaa hoon!”

Eight months later, to the date:

Aap Kaa Surroor - The Moviee The Real Luv Story  opens to a hysterical response worldwide. The only film to take an opening when the counters opened on June 25 among two other bigger releases, Apne and Awarapan, it receives a drubbing from the “intellectual” critics but is raved about by the trade and praised by the grounded film reviewers.

The music, already an audio hit, generates a thunderous response in the movie-halls, especially Assalaam valekkum, Yeh tera mera milna and Jhoot nahin bolna. His screen entry is greeted with cheers and whistles so that the dialogues are missed. It's like a mini-Sivaji - The Boss, with the pertinent difference, as a trade analyst points out, that Rajnikant is an iconic superstar and Himesh a debutant actor.

By mid-week, when a “drop” in collections is normal in today’s times, comes the simultaneous news that there are early morning shows on demand up North and a sustained performance overseas. And it’s time to meet the man himself.

Excerpts from an interview:

You have confounded your detractors and vindicated yourself.

The hype is one thing, the genuine super-success is another. At one level, I want to use the paise ki zubaan to give a resounding answer to those who slammed my film despite my achievement.

It feels great that my film has been declared the biggest opener of 2007 - in many centers the opening has bettered last year’s biggest blockbusters Dhoom 2 and Krrish.

It has been declared a super-hit since our distributors have earned five times their investment already.

At another level, I also want to win over the one percent of the media and trade that has always been against me, has never accepted my success and for whom everything about me is S**t!

To what do you attribute such a phenomenal degree of success? You had announced the month of release in London and even the date long back.

June 29 is my mother’s birthday and it’s her and my father Vipin’s blessings apart from those of God as well as the support and best wishes of all my fans and well-wishers that has done the magic. We planned everything astrologically and of course Prashant Chadha’s concept, script and direction were just brilliant.

What about your talent and hard work?

I did work hard, as hard as I have always worked on every film of mine, which is why so many albums of mine were profitable for the music companies even when the films did not do well. But by itself, I think that talent is bull-s**t!

Explain!

Everything is destiny - which primarily means God’s will and your parents’ aashirwad and everyone’s goodwill. It is only when you have this base that you start doing good work. Without such divine forces, even a hardworking and talented person will not be able to deliver the kind of work that leads to success. God has been very kind to me.

You managed a decent performance without any training.

Someone told me that even legends like Mukeshji and Talat Mehmoodji failed as actors, and that I am the first male singer after institutions like K L Saigal saab and Kishore da to become a success as a star.

Prashant is more like a brother, I know him for 16 years now and he has directed all my videos. He was supremely confident of his script, and he was supremely confident about me!

He and my producer Vijay Taneja made the film with conviction and it was even more important to Prashant that he could not afford to let me down. So I never worried about that angle.

As for my performance, all the legendary actors are like my gurus. But I knew just one thing - I compose from my heart, I sing from my heart and so I had to act from my heart!

What has been the industry’s feedback?

It has been very supportive. Salman bhai congratulated me for excellent work, putting an end to rumours that we were having problems. For me, he is simply my mentor. Without him and without music, Himesh Reshammiya is nothing!

Has Sonu Nigam called you?

No, but I still won’t believe that he said all those things against me till I meet him.

What can we expect from you now?

Three films in the next year as a complete package of actor, composer and singer - my fans and our distributors want this and I cannot let them down.

Prashant has begun work on the sequel to Aap Kaa Surroor, there will be a second film in which I will not be HR, and a third two-hero project. I plan to restrict my work to three films a year, and that means just 18 to 20 outstanding tunes.

My fans have given me all this though I am not a great looker or a great actor and have an unconventional voice.  I have to give them something new musically as well within the indispensable format of melody.