Guru Randhawa seems to have hit gold with his latest single and film tracks. The single Slowly, Slowly, a collaboration with rapper Pitbull, crossed 100 million views on YouTube (the fastest for an Indian song) in less than two weeks since its release in late April and shows no signs of ‘slowing’ down. While Morni Banke from Badhaai Ho and Daaru Wargi from Why Cheat India are still trending with close to 100 million views.
With such a steady track record and popularity, Guru is now geared to entertain his fans and audience with the High Rated Gabru India Tour 2.0 that comes to Bengaluru this Saturday. “This is my second tour with Bollyboom in India. Last year, the response and love showered on me by my fans was tremendous. As an artiste, I want to give them back the same love and gratitude so the tour is going to be epic,” says Guru.
Foreign shores
However, it is Slowly, Slowly that has put him in the limelight. Talking about working with Pitbull, Guru says, “I always wanted to do a collaboration with an international artiste. I feel, as an artiste, it’s my responsibility to diversify my music and spread the beauty of my culture. I am a huge fan of Pitbull and working with him was amazing.”
Back story
Guru’s songs, although predominantly in Punjabi and Hindi, cut across the language barrier because of the contemporary music and sounds. The music isn’t restricted to Punjabi rhythms. Guru’s compositions easily blend with Bollywood film music. “It is a different process that I go through to create music for films. I need to know what the film is about and the scene for which I am composing the song. Understanding the mood of the film is also important,” says the singer-composer. Talking about his hit from Badhaai Ho, he explains, “Morni Banke was a party song about being happy and that’s why I think people loved it so much.”
Guru who comes from Gurdaspur in Punjab, grew up listening to Daler Mehendi, Hansraj Hans and Mika Singh. It wasn’t until he completed his masters degree that he was encouraged to pursue his passion. “I owe my success to my parents. They have always stood by me and I also feel blessed to have friends who have been part of my journey. Their love and advice means everything to me,” signs off the singer who is working on songs for three upcoming films, Arjun Patiala, Dream Girl and Housefull 4.
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