Arjun, who shot to fame with Suit Suit Karda, talks to SHAlINI SAKSENA about why the song is such a rage & how it is important to be true to oneself as an artist
What is your album aboutIJ
This is my first album about my return to the roots hence the title — Closer To Home. I started off as a UK singer, singing English R&B music with a fusion edge to it. The four years back, I started singing a lot of Bollywood fusion and South Indian music as well. There was a lot of traveling around the world and doing shows and mainly to be known for doing Asian fusion sound. So this album is more about returning to my UK-Asian roots and is fully in English except for one song which is in Punjabi.
You are based out of london. How did Bollywood happenIJ
It began when I started doing a lot of songs as a YouTuber. and did an English version of Why This Kolavari Di. I did a lot of Hindi songs as well and did a remix of Tum Hi Ho but unfortunately, it had to be taken off since there were copyright issues. I sent a message and got a call asking me to make an official version for the channel since they loved what I had done. While I was doing this, I was also doing a lot of English-Hindi fusion songs and original songs that were in Hindi and Punjabi. So far I have done two songs for Hindi movies — Hindi Medium (Suit Suit) and Creature 3D (Mohabbat Barsa De) and four-five songs for Tamil films.
How do manage to get so many views on YouTubeIJ
There are so many Indians world over who not only love English songs but also Hindi gaane. They love the fusion and Hindi-English mashups since it is quite unique.
What is the reason for the popularity of Suit Suit KardaIJ
The original song itself was big away — 100-120 million views on YouTube before the film released. Then it found its way in the film and became bigger since there were so many people who saw the film so that helped. From there, it went on to become a wedding song and a party song.
Why there is so much fusion happening and its popularityIJ
If I were to take my example, I was born outside of India and when I look at myself, I am a product of fusion — of East and West. I have a lot of English and Indian friends. I listen to English and Hindi songs — Bollywood. Doing fusion is what I am; it is part of my identity. Therefore, people like myself and even in India, there are a lot of people who listen to English songs and there is huge market for such songs and you will find a lot of English songs on top of the charts. Having English as a thread helps.
What is your take on remixes given that you have done a few yourselfIJ
I have a mixed opinion. It’s not done to damage the original song. But at the same time if one can take a classical song and modernise it and yet keep the authenticity that is good. But too many remixes is also boring.
You are a singer, song-writer, producer and an instrumentalist. What do you think you do bestIJ
It has to be production, that is my forte — my passion. So I do a lot production related to mashups.
How do you keep up with what will work and what won’tIJ
There are different types of music that works at different times. There is no one formula. What is trending will not work the next moment since people get bored with a song. Sometimes people want to party, sometimes they are sad, so there are songs for difference ocassions. So one should do their own stuff, keeping up with the trends can make you lose your way as an artist.