From engineering to a YouTube sensation, Siddharth Slathia shares his journey

Inspired by the Hindi film 3 Idiots, thi Mumbai-based singer quit engineering to pursue his passion - music.
From engineering to a YouTube sensation, Siddharth Slathia shares his journey


Singer and composer Siddharth Slathia is popularly known as the boy who sings Tum Hi Ho in 10 different styles. In 2016, he took the internet by storm with his video where he imitates Bollywood artistes including Shaan, Atif Aslam, Mika Singh, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Ash King, Shabbir Kumar and Himesh Reshammiya singing the Aashiqui 2 song. The video got more than nine lakh views, garnering him quite a following.

Born and brought up in a small village, Gurah Slathian in Jammu, Siddharth moved to Jaipur to pursue engineering. “My parents wanted me to study but my heart and mind was always in music. My friends in Jaipur loved my voice and style. I knew I had a good sense of music but didn’t know how to take it forward,” says the 26-year-old Bollywood and pop musician. Interestingly, it was the 2009 comedy-drama, 3 Idiots (which was about following one’s passion), that changed his life. “The film gave me a new perspective. I called my mom and told her that I want to quit engineering. My parents rushed to Jaipur to convince me against it, but I had made my mind,” he adds.



Post that, he returned to Jammu and enrolled himself in a graduation course in music at the Jammu University. Although he took the risky decision to give up engineering and start everything afresh, things weren’t as easy as he expected them to be. “There were no studios in my hometown and neither did I know the technicalities of music programming. I set up a small home studio and learnt all of it by trial and error,” shares Siddharth, adding that he moved to Mumbai a couple of years later in search of opportunities. Meanwhile, he also started a YouTube channel (that has more than eight lakh subscribers), which eventually helped him gain popularity among the music-loving youth.

Pointing out the challenges of making covers, Siddharth says, “When you’ve done a certain number of covers, you have set a standard for yourself. People expect you to deliver better with every cover and do something out of the world. With certain songs, it’s not possible.” He released his single O Meri Jaan last year and is currently working on recreating about 15 Bollywood classics such as Lag Ja Gale and Ajeeb Daastan for a record label, Saregama. He also has a few original compositions lined up for release in the coming months. The Mumbai-based singer-songwriter will perform in the city this weekend. Expect some romantic and Bollywood mashups, along with party tunes like London Thumakda.

Ticket: Rs.2,000 (redeemable). At Karma – Bistro & Lounge.
On February 24, 8 pm onwards.

 

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