Samad : This song is a journey from a breakup to moving on, where you go through severe pain and then finally have to accept that this is what it is, and then you move on. The song came from that place—we were a group of friends who got divided because of the breakup, not in a way where we stopped hanging out, but it just felt like something had changed.

That’s why the line “sab ho gaye kyun hum tere jaane ke baad” exists. These are just references and instances from my life that happened, and the song directly talks about all of these things.

Samad : When we first made the song, it was purely an R&B track. At one point, I suggested to Bharath that we add a flute to it. He handed me the keyboard, and as I was working out the melody, he came up with the idea of introducing a tabla into the beat. I told him to go for it.

He then spent a couple of hours fine-tuning the production, perfecting every detail and making sure the track sounded incredible. The first time we listened to the finished version, we looked at each other and thought, “Wow, this is a proper desi Hindi banger.”

That moment really helped define our sound. At heart, we're R&B-pop artists, but we've always loved incorporating desi influences into our music. Hindi classic films have definitely been a major source of inspiration, and blending those elements with contemporary sounds has become a big part of our identity as musicians.

Bharath: Samad comes from a strong Hindustani classical background and has been heavily influenced by Hindi film music. I, on the other hand, like to think of myself as an explorer. My musical journey began with Carnatic music before I moved on to drums and then guitar, and from there, there was no looking back.

Samad I got inspired by a beat I heard on YouTube, and then I picked up my guitar and wrote and composed the first half of the song. After that, I wanted somebody to produce it, so I reached out to Bharath. He was like, “Sure, bro. Just come over and we’ll do it.”

I went to his place, and we worked on the song overnight. The next morning, he had to head off to his MBA classes, while I went back home to Gurgaon. Then we met again that night and even shot a music video for the song, although we never ended up releasing it.

That’s actually how we started making music together. It was the first song we ever made as a team, and it was such a beautiful process. It felt like we were completely in sync from the very beginning. Nothing felt forced or unnatural, and we both knew we were creating something special.

Bharath: Zakhmi is actually the first song that Samad and I wrote together. It wasn’t really something we planned—it was one of those natural, organic collaborations: two young guys just jamming. Samad already had a verse and the hook written from before, and while we were jamming, we ended up writing the whole track, even going on to record and mix it in under 24 hours.

We were very proud of ourselves, so of course we decided to take it up a notch and shoot some videos the same day as well. We ended up not sleeping for 48 hours, but we were a whole lot happier with ourselves.

So yeah, Zakhmi might be a heartbreak story lyrically, but for us it told us this duo is here to stay and conquer.

Samad: When I released Bemisaal, my mindset was very different. I used to think I had to do the craziest thing, the coolest thing, the newest thing—it had to sound different, it had to sound very fresh.

Now I’m actually more connected to my roots. I go back to what I learnt and keep revisiting my Indian classical lessons, and that has inspired my music journey a lot.

My new songs are more grounded and rooted in that sense. But we’re also making cool shit, so it’s about maintaining a balance of both. It’s never dependent on the success or failure of any project or album I’ve done.

It’s more about what you want people to take away from you as an artist. I’m very grateful to be able to make music like that. With every project and every sound, I’m going to keep evolving, keep learning, and keep changing my sound.

I don’t want to overthink what I want to do in the future. Whatever comes naturally, whatever I feel like doing—that’s the point of music, you know. You do what you feel like, and people will listen. And if it’s good, they’ll connect with it.

Bharath : Bemisaal was a learning opportunity for both of us, on how we could push our boundaries in songwriting and production. The post-Bemisaal era is definitely going to be heavy on live instrumentation. I don’t want to reveal too much, but you’ll see us playing a lot of our music on our instruments this year.

Samad: With Lucky Ali, it’s been insane. I’ve had the best time opening for him, and we’ve now done shows all over India and even started performing internationally.

Earlier, I used to get quite scared, sitting in the vanity—wondering what I would sing, how I would do it, whether I’d remember the lyrics or not. Then he came up to me and said, “Son, don’t worry. Just be yourself. Be humble. People see through it. They’ll remember your humility, they’ll remember your attitude, then they’ll remember your songs.”

That line really comforted me. So I went on stage, stayed true to myself, and now I don’t think twice about it. I just go out there and do my thing, and it’s worked out that way.

It’s also helped me understand that people around the world are the same. It doesn’t matter whether someone understands the language or not—if you play that groove, it connects. Music is such a global language. I’ve seen it first-hand, performing in different cities and experiencing the same songs resonate everywhere.

It’s made me realise the impact music can have on people’s lives. I’m very grateful to be able to do this.

Samad:Gini is one of my closest friends, so working with her is always a lot of fun. We only had one session to create this ICC song, so I simply retuned the guitar slightly and we got started. We quickly put together a verse and chorus, and the song came together very naturally. There were no hiccups at all.

The three of us were also incredibly inspired because we were creating it for the World Cup. We were all saying, “Come on, Team India!”, so we were genuinely excited to write a song for such a major occasion. I’m very grateful to have been part of it.

Now that the song is being played at the World Cup, it feels surreal. To think it began with a couple of lines written in my room and is now being heard by people around the world is incredible. I’m absolutely delighted to have had this opportunity. Kudos to Gini!

Bharath: Working with Gini is always a pleasure. So when she told us we had the opportunity to write an anthem for the ICC Women’s World Cup, it was an easy decision.

Samad quickly came up with a guitar riff, which became the foundation for our jam session and helped us build the verse. Gini wrote the English verse, but we soon realised we needed a Hindi verse as well, so Samad swiftly penned the lyrics while I worked on the music and production elements.

As we wanted to incorporate the theme of this year’s World Cup, the hook practically wrote itself: “Catch the Spirit, That’s the Spirit!” It’s simple, memorable and easy for people to sing along to.

This project is undoubtedly a major milestone for us, and it has been a privilege to collaborate with an organisation such as the ICC. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Samad: For me, a dream collaboration would be with someone like Charlie Puth, or perhaps even Coldplay—that would be absolutely incredible. More than anything, though, I want to take my music to a global audience. I believe Indian music has the potential to reach even greater heights internationally, and I’d love to play a part in making that happen. Inshallah, we’ll see what the future holds. But yes, Charlie Puth and Coldplay are definitely at the top of my collaboration wish list.

Bharath: I’d love for us to write with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Salim-Sulaimaan, Drake, Karpe—the list is honestly endless. My dream is simply to travel the world with my laptop, writing songs in every country and collaborating with the best creative minds wherever I go.