Remember his song Bulleya lip-synched by Ranbir Kapoor in the movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil? It went on to become one of the most popular songs that was almost like a mandatory addition to a millennial’s playlist. Meet Amit Mishra, the voice behind that song, and other peppy numbers like Manma Emotion (Dilwale) or Sau Tarah Ke (Dishoom). He is back with a new single, titled Tera Deewana, released by Zee Music. Read on as Amit talks about his journey, the song, and more. Excerpts:
Tell us about your journey. How did it begin?
It started when I was in school. In the fifth standard, I took music as an optional subject, and thus began my music journey. When I was doing BCom from Lucknow University, I studied vocals. I was also a part of a lot of bands and participated in various singing competitions. I trained under a lot of gurus. Pritamda, of course, has been a great mentor for me.
How did you enter the film industry?
I got in touch with a lot of people in the music industry and they were very kind to me. I first sang a song for Prashant Singhji called Soniye for the movie Hum Do Anjaane starring Jackie Shroff. I recorded its flat version and Kunal Ganjawala sang the original; then I sang the band version of that song. The song worked as my demo music, which I used to send to other composers proudly saying that it’s my voice. It was Shakeel Azmi, one of the top lyricists in the music industry, who recommended me to Mahesh Bhatt. I went to Mr Bhatt’s studio and dubbed a song for the movie 1920: Evil Returns called Majboor Tu Bhi Kahin.
Then it was film director and producer Suneel Darshan who gave me a chance to sing for his son, Shiv Darshan’s, movie Karle Pyaar Karle. I got to sing two songs in the movie – Teri Saason Mein with Arijit Singh and Palak Muchhal, and O Darling, a party number. After that, I for Palash Muchhal and many others, but got my big break through Pritamda. I got to sing Manma Emotion from the movie Dilwale for him. Later, it was Sau Tarah Ke from Dishoom, and then Bulleya from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. I also got a chance to sing with Rochak Kohli sir, and Hitesh Sonik for Netflix’s Rajma Chawal, which was my first OTT project. I felt honoured to be a part of that project because the movie had six songs and I got to sing four of them. I got a lot of opportunities and projects to sing on after that. I got to sing Galti Se Mistake with Dada [Pritam]. So that’s how the journey has been so far!
Tell us about your new song Tera Deewana?
Tera Deewane was released by Zee Music and Anand Swaroop Tripathi has composed this song. I would like to thank Zee and Anurag Bedi. It’s a brilliant song and reintroduced very well by Subhadeep Mitra. I’m happy that Anand Tripathi liked the lyrics of the song — we were just jamming and I wrote the lyrics then. We sent the demo lyrics to Anurag Bedi and he approved them. I had written it in the form of Awadhi’s nirgun, which you can call sufi too. The song was composed with both Indian and western percussionist.
Were there any challenges you faced while doing this song?
In terms of singing, yes it was a bit of a challenge as it has a lot of power and high scales. In terms of lyrics, it wasn’t challenging because I penned it as a conceptual. I didn’t have to follow any directors point of view, so I was free to do what I wanted. (laughs) But I had a wonderful time while recording it.
Your last album Bechainiyan has done well. Bigg Boss finalist and actor Romil Chaudhary featured in the song… will you be collaborating with him again?
Bechainiyan was produced by Reena Mehta and did well. It had a dream composition. Romil Chaudhary, who featured in it, did a fabulous job. Yes, of course, I’d love to collaborate with him some time again.
Any chance of you acting in your own video?
Yes, I have done a video called Vacation with my band members. It did very well. It was a typical rock ’n’ roll kind of genre – my favourite genre. Yes, I’m looking forward to acting in my music videos too.
Many actors have started singing, will you make the switch to the other side?
Many actors have tried their hands in singing and they are doing very well. I really liked the Casanova track of Tiger Shroff – he’s a great actor and a very good singer too. Shraddha Kapoor also did a fabulous job. Of course, Amitabh Bachchan has been a landmark as he has sung so many songs. I got an opportunity to sing a song with Amitabhji – he was doing rap in the song – so I was thrilled. I’d love to be part of interesting projects where I can act and fit into the character.
What’s next for you?
There are couple of singles, jingles and my own videos. So far, I’m busy with a few devotional tracks for Tips and some commercial independent singing. I’m looking forward to music tracks from films too so hopefully, they will get released in a couple of months.
