Sukhwinder Singh: Arrogance in music is damaging

A tête-à-tête with singer Sukhwinder Singh

Q. You have been in the industry for long. What has kept you going?
A. This is a dog-eat-dog industry, but talent is something that nobody can ignore. Talent goes for a toss the day you think that you know everything. There is always something new to learn and also something old that can be improved upon. Arrogance in music is damaging. I don’t take tension and pay attention to my riyaaz. Music for me is not a profession, but my passion. Professionally you may get tired of doing the same thing. However, passion never dies; instead it increases with time, redefining the involvement and commitment. When I sing, I get involved with the song and its music. I flirt and romance with the song. I consider music as my mehbooba. Romance for me is style and beauty. It is fun and pure and makes me happy and creative. In fact, I am a romantic flirt.

Sukhwinder Singh

Q. Since you are a singer who specialises in romantic tracks, you mostly get approached for situational songs.
A. So what if it is situational? A song is a song. My last film was Jai Gangaajal with a situational song and I got calls from fans saying that the song remained in their heads even after they left the cinema hall. Even a situational song has a lot of interesting elements in it. Chak De and Jai Ho were all situational songs.

Q. Which forthcoming films and their music can we look forward to?
A. I have sung four songs in the upcoming film, Rangoon. The songs are fantastic. The standard of the Hindi film industry, established by A R Rahman in the international market, will be taken way ahead through Vishal Bhardwaj’s songs in Rangoon. I have sung in the opera style like I did in Haider. I have also sung in the Salman Khan-starrer Sultan and a celebratory song in Sarbjit. I must also mention Pranam’s music. The film’s music director, Vishal Mishra, is a passionate composer. Then there are two films of Mahesh Manjrekar.

Q. Do you sing a song keeping the actor in mind?
A. Why would I do that? In a film even the actor is a character. So often, I don’t even know the name of the actor I am singing for. It is about the music and lyrics besides the narrative which is given.

Q. Your contemporaries are judging reality shows. Would you also consider it?
A. More than a judge, I would prefer to be a mentor on a music reality show. We have plenty of unexplored and untapped talent in our country. With little guidance, they can get the correct direction.

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