They reserved the loudest cheers and whistles for him. And Shankar Mahadevan didn’t pause for a second to do an encore of ‘Breathless’, the title track from his 1998 album that rocked the charts for several months and still rules his fans’ minds.

Shankar Mahadevan is no Justin Bieber or Pitbull, who can make delirious headbangers bounce and dance crazily. Neither does he moonwalk or move stylishly to tunes. The singer-composer looks more like a warm, genial neighbour with boyish enthusiasm, who belts out bhajans and Bollywood hits with the same élan.

At a recent concert, organised by the Shakti Foundation, in the city, where he shared the stage with four other musicians, he played to the packed gallery, winning over the vivacious, reciprocating crowd by crooning all their requests. And when the show ended, the euphoria continued backstage too.

From teens to grey-headed lovers of his music, he was almost mobbed by them all. “Oh, how I wish my granddaughter was here. She cannot go to bed without listening to your Ganesh stuti,” said an elderly woman. “What an evening and what music,” said another while three youngsters held his hand and expressed their desire to join his music academy.

He acknowledged them all even as he helped many take perfect selfies with him. “Hey, hold your phone this way.” “No, no, don’t hold it so low and near.” Photos were taken for nearly 15 minutes and Shankar patiently smiled through every click even as his charming wife Sangeeta looked on quietly.

He finally managed to answer a few questions over the din of mobile phones. “The message I take home from this adulation and affection is to be honest to my listeners and my art,” he says. “There have been and are many good singers. It’s not about being different. It’s about singing from your heart. You need to bare your soul,” he adds.

Shankar’s appeal lies in the simplicity of his demeanour and music. His music is certainly not challenging. “And I don’t find any reason why it should be. After all, as an artiste you want to reach out, connect with the world around. So it’s better if you are a straight communicator.”

An engineer-turned-musician, like in most South Indian families, he was inducted into training in Carnatic music when very young. “I didn’t want to become a classical musician since I loved different genres and wanted to dabble in them. Classical is a great tool to discover your creative sensibilities. It gives you tremendous confidence to experiment and explore, which are essentials to find your space in the teeming contemporary soundscape,” he explains.

The success of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with many Bollywood chartbusters to their credit, is in their ability to bring distinctive musical understandings to the composing table. “That’s where we score. Each one of us has areas of specialisation and expertise, which, along with our camaraderie, we use to come up with tunes that blend Indian folk, classical, jazz, blues, hip-hop and more.”

And when the three are not in the studio working on film tracks, they are busy pursuing their individual musical interests.

“It’s like any other relationship. You need to have that space and respect,” he says. There are relatively few acts which have managed to combine such huge success while retaining credibility.

Shankar is also happy with his son Siddharth’s (the voice behind ‘Zinda’ from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) approach to music. “He’s very grounded and seems to have the right influences. Most importantly, he wants to find work on his terms.”

Stage, studio, rehearsal and travel apart, Shankar is currently focussed on his pet project — the Shankar Mahadevan Academy that imparts training in Hindustani and Carnatic music.

“The response has been heartening. We have a presence in 47 countries and are working towards perfecting our learning capsules.”

With the gap between technologists and musicians becoming as slim as the new tablet, Shankar points out how it has led to the emergence of a new sound profile and an interactive platform. “The web generation thrives more on e-bonding, and ‘e’ here is not about emotions but instantaneous connect,” he smiles.

It’s 11 p.m. and his manager reminds him that he has an early morning flight to Kochi. As Shankar hurries to get into his car, he talks about simultaneously tuning into tradition and new-age choices. “My forthcoming projects — Rock On 2, Mirziya and Dil Dhadakne Do and a global music venture involving many artistes along with jazz legend John McLaughlin — are essentially about this,” he sums up breathlessly.