Singer by day, geek by night

HUBLI: The entertainer 3 Idiots has a Hubli connection. IT professional and amateur singer Vikas Solanki who has appeared in the movie hails from Hubli.
The boy who completed his engineering in IT from BVB Engineering College in Hubli is an actor by day and a geek by night. Vikas lives in Bangalore. Every morning, he performs in his rock band, sings playback for Kannada movies and goes to a gym to keep fit.
At night, however, he puts on his nerd T-shirt and begins to work for clients in the US. Since he works from home, he has all the freedom in the world to take breaks, go to the kitchen and bake a cookie. He ensures he gets enough sleep so that he wakes up fresh next morning.
When the 3 Idiots team was auditioning for singers and dancers in Bangalore, he was selected to appear in its dance sequences. He recalls Amir Khan as a warm human being who makes it comfortable for young actors to perform.
Born into an industrialist family in Hubli, Vikas went to the best schools in the city and studied science in PUC. He later joined the BVB Engineering College and chose IT.
After BE, he had offers from companies in US and UK. But he shunned them to pursue a career in music and films. "Going out of India would mean I had to sacrifice my music career. I did not want it. I decided to stay back in India so that I could focus on music and dance,'' Vikas said.
He sang and played instruments in school and college. "My parents told me it was ok to be different and I thank them for it. They were not like the usual parents who want to see their children earn an IT degree and settle in America.''
Vikas has no formal training in music and does not attend any classes. "I have taught myself by listening to performers, reading books and taking online classes. This is how I learnt to play the guitar and sing songs,'' he said. He has also collected a set of teach-yourself DVDs.
But Vikas takes his interest seriously. Vikas and his friend Vineet Menon have formed a rock band. They plan to bring out a music album this year. He has sung for Kannada films like Nimma Shankar Nag, Meshtru, Bhoo Chakra and Doosra.