Powered by Ragas, Remixes & Random Travel Plans
Do you remember the first moment in your childhood when you realized that music was not something you just listened to, but something you wanted to experience? What was it like discovering the little Shruti sound?
For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to pursue music as a career. Music had a very special place in my life because I grew up in a home where my father listened to ghazals and classical music. This environment allowed me to fall in love with music very naturally and also made it easier for me to continue making music without having to convince my family.
We are a family of teachers and professors, so education was extremely important. My parents just said, “Finish your graduation and then the world will be your oyster.” I even completed a master’s degree in psychology, but music was something I could never compromise on or give up.
Before the world knew you for songs like ‘Mar Jawaan’ or ‘Tujhe Bhula Diya’, what was the turning point when you felt, ‘Okay, Bollywood is happening for me’? Any unexpected developments or funny behind-the-scenes memories from this early period?
Not many people know this, but I actually sang many remixes before big movie songs. We didn’t call these ‘entertainment’ back then; they were just ‘remixes’. This was a cultural phase in itself!
My first recording was Lekhe Pehla Pehla Pyar for an album called Baby Doll series. After that, I did a lot of remix tracks until my first real film debut came with Fashion’s Mar Jawaan.
That song completely changed my life. It was like a floodgate opening; Everything that followed in my career happened because of Mar Jawaan. I really owe everything to this song.
Over the years, your voice has become synonymous with emotional depth and musical grace. Was there a particular project or phase where you felt like your artistic identity was really falling into place?
To be honest, that moment came right before Mar Jawaan. I was singing small parts as well as remixes for television and commercials. Then I met Salim-Sulaiman.
They were testing my voice for a Gujarati musical theater project. Salim Merchant asked me to make a change in the lower octave and that’s when he discovered the true texture of my voice.
Until then, I wasn’t fully aware of how my voice behaved on the microphone or how different vocal textures could change everything. He taught me how to raise my voice correctly and improve my tone.
This discovery eventually led me to go to Mar Jawaan. That’s when I realized my voice had something unique.
You have worked with incredible music creators like Vishal-Shekhar and now you have collaborated with Anvita Dutt as the lyricist of ‘Hum Dono’. Which collaboration in your journey so far has shaped you the most, personally or professionally, and why?
As an artist you need to constantly evolve and I have been lucky to work with a wide range of composers like Salim-Sulaiman, Vishal-Shekhar, Amit Trivedi and many more.
Each of them has their own style and their working processes are very different from each other.
In some of them, like Hum Dono or Tujhe Bhula Diya, I was also a part of the conceptualisation. I worked with Salim-Sulaiman mostly on pre-structured songs.
These different processes teach you a lot. They make you faster, more alert and help you grow. People don’t realize how difficult it is to encounter a song for the first time and record it in minutes, making it 100% emotional without days of rehearsal.
Each collaboration has shaped me in a different way.
If we were to rewind your life as a movie script, what would be the surprising episode (besides music) that your fans would never expect but you would want to share?
I love traveling. It grounds me, reconnects me to life, and allows me to spend time with myself. Music is my life, but it is also my profession, and traveling keeps me connected to the real world, nature, and the me beyond the stage and microphone.
What is one of your favorite songs from your own work?
Naturally Mar Jawaan, because he gave me everything.
But another very special song is Rasiya. Even though the movie wasn’t very successful, the song lived on and remained close to my heart. It was a raga-based solo performance and I had the opportunity to explore my vocal range and classical training.
It’s also extremely emotional for me because it was the last song I sang in front of my father. Therefore, it carries a very deep personal memory.
Tell us about ‘Hum Dono’, its sweetness, its naughtiness, the part of your singing that resonates the most.
Hum Dono brings back the freshness of a slightly older era of Bollywood music. The whole album has that vibe. The song itself is fuzzy, romantic, like the warmth of new love, like the spring season.
It was shot very beautifully. Kartik Aaryan was also there during the recording and after listening to the opening improvisation, he suggested that we do an acoustic version as well because the melody was so strong.
Even though this version didn’t materialize, the song has incredible recall value and that’s probably why it’s already trending.
To me, the song feels like a warm hug on a cold night.
