NAGPUR BOY SHREYAS Puranik, who started singing at the tender age of three, made an impressive Bollywood debut with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani in 2015. Having assisted the director in composing music and also singing in Malaal, co-produced by Bhansali, the 27-year-old Mumbai-based singer-songwriter is concentrating on individual projects. He recently recreated the song Naam Ada Likhna and promises more such projects. He also hints at a debut in Tollywood soon. Excerpts:
Why did you choose to recreate Naam Adah Likhna and not any other song?
The song is special. It has Gulzar sahab’s lyrics and the original music is by Shantanu Moitra. I just wanted to recreate the evergreen melody into a new song. However, I have not changed the melody and played with the arrangements in my own way. And I am excited that it already has two million views.
Do you have a list of songs you would want to recreate?
I have one song — Zindagi Ke Safar Mein Guzar Jate Hai — which was sung by the legendary Kishore Kumar in the film Aapki Kasam. I have already recreated it by adding new elements. I hope to release that soon.
How was it to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
It is everyone’s dream to work with a director/composer like him. And I am blessed to have started my career by assisting him in Bajirao Mastani. I have learnt a lot from him and in fact, I am learning now as well. He is a very hardworking person and since I have worked with him in period dramas I have seen his dedication in detail. He brings in the flavour of that period into a song so effortlessly. If you hear Khalibali or Ghoomar, you will understand.
In the last Sanjay Leela Bhansali produced film Malaal, you rapped in a song and sang in another. Tell us about that experience.
Lots of reworking goes on when Sanjay sir is composing. So since Malaal has some Marathi elements, he asked me if I could rap. And Aila Re became the first Hindi song to have a Marathi rap. I was always drawn towards rapping and more so after Gully Boy. I like Divine. Also, rap helps you connect with the younger generation, so while I rapped, Vishal Dadlani sung the song. The other song is Naad Khula, which I have sung and composed and it took two years to make it because the first time I presented it to Sanjay Sir he didn’t like it.
What next?
This year has been good so far. The independent music scene is again catching up in India and my devotional song Shiv Shankar, which I did with Sonu Nigam, got 12 million hits. I am doing a single with Armaan Malik soon and concentrating more on individual projects as well. Also, apart from some projects in Bollywood, you might see me composing for Tollywood as well since I am in talks with Jeet Ganguly.