The Lucknowi boy whose voice took the entire B-town by storm is none other than singer-songwriter Amit Mishra. The ‘Bulleya’ (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) hitmaker, who has also given chartbusters like ‘Manma Emotion’ (Dilwale), ‘Galti Se Mistake’ (Jagga Jasoos) and ‘Sakht Jaan’ (83) is currently riding high on the success of his latest track ‘Dil Hai Bholaa’ from Ajay Devgn’s film, Bholaa. Indeed a good start to this year!
Having always been a team player, all thanks to being from the band fraternity, his discipline is something we all could learn from. Having gratitude for all who supported him as well as his mentors speaks volumes of him as an artist.
In this heartfelt conversation, the artist speaks about singing in regional languages, wanting his work to speak for him, sounding like a hero, independent music and much more…
- As an outsider, getting the right break makes things a lot easier for an artist in order to become noticeable in the eyes of the audience as well as producers who’d put their faith in you and your talent. In your case, it was not until you sang ‘Manma Emotion Jaage’ and ‘Bulleya’ which gave you the kind of recognition you deserve. Did you ever feel that you’re supposed to fit in – being an outsider – in the B-town or you wanted your work to speak for you?
Honestly, I never really felt like an outsider because people have been very kind and supportive. I learnt a lot by assisting so many people here and I’m grateful to all the music directors and composers who gave me a chance to work on their projects. Of course, for the songs ‘Manma Emotion’ and ‘Bulleya’ I would like to thank Pritam da because he has been such a great mentor to me and has always supported me. I also got a chance to work with various other composers so I never felt like an outsider. I agree that every artist wants their work to speak for them and I’m glad that B-town has accepted me because I’ve been a fan of Bollywood since childhood. I’ve grown up watching films just like any other child so, I’m honoured to be a part of the industry. I’m looking forward to singing many more songs along with the producers’ and composers’ faith in me, which has always been there.
- In one of your interviews, you had said something interesting which was “you need to sound like a hero to sing for one”. Do you put in a conscious effort to sound a certain way when you know you’re supposed to sing for a particular actor or your approach towards every project is the same?
When you’re singing for a film, for an actor, it’s not just about the singing; it’s more about the projection. So, yes, I try to keep the dynamics and projections as well as the voice culture accordingly. My mentors had guided me and given me pointers as to how our vocal deliverance needs to be when we’re singing for an actor. Now we’ve got the luxury to see the video of the song before we record it, but sometimes when we don’t, I discuss it with my team members and I keep my projection according to the same.
- You come from the band fraternity and that has definitely changed the way you view yourself and others around you. There’s no individual star, rather, it’s a team effort and everyone’s equal whether it’s the technician or the instrumentalist. But when we talk about the industry in general, don’t you think this mentality is somewhere lacking and needs to be changed? What’s your opinion on that?
I’m grateful to my band members with whom I’ve got a chance to groom myself and learn work. Even now I work as a team member and it’s important to work as a team because it’s not just one person who makes things possible. There are a lot many people who’re working along with you for the same thing. I can’t speak for others and their mentality but I’ve always believed in team work and this is something I’ve learnt from my band members, my management team, my technicians and everyone I’ve been associated with. There’s no better way to explain this than saying “team work makes the dream work”. And I truly feel that my team’s support has played a big hand in making me, like you said, a star singer (chuckles).
- Your latest release “Dil Hai Bholaa” has created waves on the internet and you along with your band members were in the video which officially marks it as your first music video. Congratulations on that! Over the past few years, we’ve seen various singers becoming the face of their music videos as well. Is that something you wish to explore in the near future too?
I’m glad that people are loving the song and it’s creating waves on the internet, like you said. I’m also glad that I’ve gotten a chance to sing a lot of anthems in the past year or so. And honestly, I look forward to exploring music every day and I’m definitely looking forward to explore new genres and new styles of singing in the future as well. I’m happy that these days I’m recording more of these anthems and title tracks, and simply getting a chance to work I’d say; I’m grateful for that. So, I hope to work even more and keep up the focus and dedication.
- We’re living in interesting times where artists are increasingly trying to become self-dependent and move away from the whole influence of music labels. Do you find that an interesting trend?
You see, musicians are always self-dependent because if they won’t deliver, they won’t get the profit of course in that case. Music labels have always been very supportive of me and I’ve sung for various different labels. Sometimes you do get rejected, but I take these things in a very receptive manner because maybe I wasn’t giving the right deliverance to the song which is why I was rejected. But I’m grateful to all the labels and of course, the composers and music directors and the team, like I mentioned in one of your previous questions (laughs). Being self-dependent earlier, I’ve sung quite a few indie songs and even now I work on individual projects. So, I would say both the things matter and you cannot just stick to one.
- Lastly, apart from lending your voice to Hindi films, you’ve also sung in various regional languages such as Bengali, Telugu, Tamil and Marathi. How different has that process been for you and are you otherwise fluent in all these languages or it’s only limited to the songs you’ve sung so far?
Yes, I’ve gotten a chance to sing in various languages – Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam – wow (laughs). It was fun to record all of them but of course, it did require a lot of hard work as well. I always get a language coordinator for these regional languages. And to answer your question, I would say that I’m only fluent in Hindi (chuckles).
