Sukhwinder Singh, an unconventional voice of Bollywood, will be seen as a musical anchor in Zed Plus. The talented musician talks to Karan Bhardwaj about his hardships, early challenges and learning from industry stalwarts
You started your career with album Munda Southhall Da in london. How did Mumbai happenIJ
I was born in Punjab but with many connections in london. london was like a second home. A lot of family members and friends were staying there. So I opted to study and learn music there. I did many stage shows which helped me understand various forms of music. I was always attracted towards music and my passion just grew with time. I used to dream about playback artistes singing live and composers recording tracks in studios. I was so obsessed with music that I heard music of any genre from any country. Wherever I travelled, I drew inspiration from the music and culture and tried to cultivate that in my life. After my debut album Munda Southhall Da, which received great response, I founded a band with other boys. My videos became popular before I decided to go to Mumbai to try playback singing.
Was it a cakewalk for you to enter BollywoodIJ
Not at all! I wanted to meet laxmikant–Pyarelal and used to wait at the entrance of their bungalow. I let go of my ego and asked everyone for work. I happened to meet laxmikantji who was flabbergasted by my music but he advised me to explore music direction though my interest was always about singing. Unfortunately, we couldn’t work much as the composer duo was not doing movies. I chose to go back to london and cut another album and finetune my music. I wanted to enhance my personality as a performer. In those days, I heard AR Rahman’s compostions in Roja and Bombay which were immensely popular. I decided to give myself a second shot and returned to Mumbai. I asked my acquaintances to introduce me to Rahman who was in Chennai then. When he heard my voice, he was floored and gave me a big break.
How would you describe AR Rahman’s contribution to your life and careerIJ
He is my godfather. For me, he’s what’s God to mankind. He has done justice to my vocal skills. He nurtured me, honed me and allowed me to flourish. When I sang Punjabi version of Chaiyya Chaiyya, he was so impressed that he asked me to visit his Kodambakkam house, which was next to a Dargah. He made me comfortable and asked me to ‘relax’. There was a spiritual undertone in his eyes. At his place, I met Mani Ratnam and Shaad Ali.
The leading singers of the 90s such as Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Kavita Krishnamurthy have cut down their work heavily citing lack of good music. Do you think the quality of music has gone downIJ
I don’t think so! I am working with stalwarts like Vishal Bhardwaj, Gulzar and AR Rahman who can never produce bad music. Prasoon Joshi, Javed Akhtar, Salim Sulaiman, Vishal Shekhar — all of them are making exceptional music. It’s not apt to say that everything is wrong. There could be people doing bad job but we have so many great talents that are churning out memorable music. Those who are talented didn’t wither with time. lata Mangeshkar has survived. So has Asha Bhosle. lataji still rehearses for four hours a day. This is sheer dedication. The audience will never hear any stupid composition from me. I may be slow and steady but I will work with right people.
What are the forthcoming projectsIJ
I sang for Happy New Year. Then there is Shaad Ali’s Kill Dill. I have also composed music for Zed Plus, where I will also be seen on screen. I am also the musical anchor of the movie who introduces twists in the plot. I am also composing music for N Chandra’s Tezaab 2.