Sunburn festival, one of the largest music festivals is back, this time in the form of a book. Telling its story is none other than Sunburn inceptor and joint MD of Percept, Shailendra Singh. On a warm Friday morning, the marketing whiz came with a suitcase filled with 15 books of ‘True Story of Sunburn’. “I feel fresh and excited to be in Hyderabad. The official launch of the book is on December 1 in Mumbai but with such a big Sunburn event happening in Hyderabad (Afrojack concert), I wanted to unveil the book here. I wanted to inspire the young people, tell them ‘believe in yourselves’,” he says. With behind-the-scenes revelations, confessions, real stories and candid photographs, The True Story…. is for all the Sunburn loyalists and those who want to dream big.
Encouraged by his first book F?@K Knows success, Shailendra says the reason to pen down Sunburn memories is his wish to connect with the young. “Once I read a line by an author which said, ‘Who will cry when you die,’. I wanted to share my knowledge and experience. I wanted to tell the story of Sunburn, the emotions, pains and our challenges… in all these seven years,” he states. Before penning down the words, Shailendra recorded his experiences in audio format. “It’s all on tape. When I heard it, I cried. It has been an emotional journey and wanted to share it,” he says.
With a B.Com degree in hand, Shailendra set out on his journey of dreams. A marketing guru, Bollywood producer and a shrewd ‘deal maker’ and a brand builder have been some of his successful roles. Shailendra attributes his success to his attitude. “For someone who was dyslexic, suffered from ADHD and was wired-off, I have been able to launch so many businesses because I am open to life. I am not headstrong and find a lot of joy in giving,” he says with a smile.
He has many memorable moments with Sunburn. “Once on stage I asked the audience ‘Do you love India’. When the crowd went roaring, I got goose bumps when I heard it. There was so much power in that roar,” he says. There were some tough moments too like the day when Bala Sahab Thackeray died and the show had to be cancelled in Mumbai. “There were 30,000 kids, all crying. It was the most challenging time,” he remembers.
Shailendra has plans to take up movie direction and will be directing a new movie Gupta’s Clinic . He is considering Saurabh Shukla, Rishi Kapoor or Boman Irani for the lead role. “The movie will be about physical relationships. Har Sawaal ka jawaab Gupta ke paas ,” he says with a laugh.
Shailendra’s biggest strength is his humour. “I am very happy to be alive. I want to motivate the youngsters and fire up their imagination with my life experiences. I am happy that I am standing here healthy and sharing my experiences. I want to connect with the young before I go.”
