Nikhita Gandhi opens up about experimenting with genres and expanding horizons
Nikhita Gandhi has embarked on an exciting new musical journey, forming a duo with playback singer Shashwat Singh. Together, they’re known as ShNik. “We’re going to be dropping a lot of music this year, and I’m super excited to share this journey with my fans,” Nikhita shares enthusiastically. We caught up with her backstage at the Royal Stag BoomBox in Guwahati, where she recently performed. “It’s been such a joy to showcase my music at a festival level like this. It’s especially fun for me because I resonate with both genres—melodic Bollywood and Hip Hop. I feel like I’m the perfect artiste to blend both worlds,” she says, her passion evident in every word.
Do you find a difference in singing for movies and indie music?
A hundred per cent. In films, the brief is a lot more specific. You’re singing for a specific situation or a person, so the delivery is to that brief. When it comes to indie, the creative process is a lot more fluid for an artiste, especially if I’m writing the music, composing it, then of course, there’s a lot more that I get to experiment with, in indie music. I think both have their own space. For example, when I sing for movies, sometimes I’m offered songs that even I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull off. And then I get to explore a new side of myself. There are times when I am pushed into a genre that I didn’t think I was capable of delivering, but then I do. So, I really get to be outside my comfort zone sometimes, which is always for the better. In indie, it’s usually an internal exploration, where I’m trying to take out more and more of who I am and pour it into my music.
As you sing in multiple languages, does your approach change with each language?
Yes, to an extent. I mean, the style of singing of course remains the same, unless the brief is very specific to a certain kind of music. But apart from that, I think the main thing to keep in mind is just to get the accent right
Every singer has good and bad days. How do you tackle a bad day during live performances?
We are usually a team of 10 to 15 people, and everybody’s energy together makes a show good or bad. We are all humans. And sometimes people may be unwell or just having a bad day. A lot of times, people have no clue about what we are going through, but when passing through we are on stage, the stage is what matters. I think that’s what being a good performer is, that once you hit the stage, you put aside your personal problems, and you just concentrate on making everyone have a great time.
What has been the most special collaboration for you and why?
I’ve had a lot of extremely special collaborations, be it for a very commercial project or for a very niche project. Bandish Bandits was a very special project for me because the entire show was about music and I got to sing some pretty incredible songs. But I think one of my top favourite collaborations has been being the voice of Muhammad: The Messenger of God. This film was helmed by Majid Majidi, the very celebrated Iranian filmmaker, and the composer was A R Rahman! It’s a special collaboration.
Which song has been the most challenging to sing?
Probably my first song, Ladio. It was with me having zero experience of singing playback and all the parameters were difficult. I didn’t come with experience. I had to sing in a language I did not speak and understand — in Tamil. It was a very high-pitched and a fast song. There were a lot of Tamil words. All the odds were against me actually and that probably was my toughest, but most exciting song. Of course, the reason why I’m doing music today, it all started with that song.