Ithits your ears everywhere these days, from Instagram reels to shaadi playlists. It’s well on its way to notching close to 120 million views, and counting, on YouTube. It’s entered the US Billboard charts, making it to the Top 3. Ranjha from Shershaah, picturised on Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, is the season’s biggest hit and one of the most popular songs of the year so far.
Jasleen Royal, whose unconventional voice has powered many a recent Bollywood hit, has not only sung the romantic number — B Praak for company — but has also composed it. The Telegraph chatted with the young, almost childlike, talent on music, movies and more.
Din shagna da Jasleen composed and sang this soulful number from Phillauri, starring and produced by Anushka Sharma. Today, Din shagna da is a go-to song at most wedding rituals. In fact, it also played out when Anushka got married to Virat Kohli in Italy.
I play Ranjha a couple of times a day every day. After a long time, we have a Bolly number whose popularity cuts across generations....
Thank you! People are really loving the song. Both my parents have Ranjha as their caller tune! (Laughs) It’s made it to the US Billboard charts, which is a huge thing for me.
There’s actually a story behind Ranjha. A few days before I composed it, someone told me that my music is shitty! (Laughs)
Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani in Ranjha from Shershaah
What?!
Ya! Someone told me that to my face! I was like, ‘My god, how can they say that?!’ Even if one is not a fan, there is a more polite way to say such things, right? (Laughs) That kept playing in my head and when I went to the studio to record Ranjha, I had that constantly on my mind. I kept telling myself, ‘I want to make something outstanding.’ That was the thought, but there was no guarantee that I would be able to make a good enough song. But yes, Ranjha happened, and I am happy.
What was the brief given to you for Ranjha?
Actually, I had made it for another film, but they had rejected it. My supervisor at Dharma (Productions, the producer of Shershaah) thought it was an outstanding track and then we developed it together for Shershaah.
KHO GAYe HUM KAHAN Music: Jasleen Royal. Lyrics: Prateek Kuhad. Sung by Jasleen Royal and Prateek Kuhad. It really doesn’t get better than this beautiful number from Baar Baar Dekho, picturised on Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif, that we still can’t get enough of.
Within a very short time, you have firmly made a place for yourself in the Bolly music scene. Which of your songs do people talk to you the most about?
There are a bunch of them. Like Kho gaye hum kahan, Love you zindagi, Din shagna da and now Ranjha. Honestly, when you say that I have established myself within a short time, it’s very encouraging because I feel I have taken a lot of time!
Not at all! How do you look back at the journey?
I am feeling good about what you just said, so I will add that to my journey! (Laughs) I have always been someone who keeps telling myself, ‘I need to do more, I need to do more!’ I have always been stressed. Maneesh Sharma (producer-director) from Yash Raj Films is a close friend and he always sees how stressed and restless I am and keeps teasing me with, ‘Kab sudhregi tu? At least be happy with your work sometimes!’ (Laughs) And I say, ‘Haan, theek hain, theek hain!’ Now that Ranjha has become such a big hit, he asked me, ‘Are you happy now?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know... should I be happy?’ (Laughs) He’s like, ‘There’s no change!’ Honestly, I don’t know how to celebrate my success.
LOVE YOU ZINDAGI Jasleen joined forces with Amit Trivedi to lend her force to this feel-good song from the Alia Bhatt film Dear Zindagi.
Do you treat everything in life with as much simplicity?
I do take a lot of stress, but at the same time, I don’t take a lot of things very seriously. I don’t know if that makes sense. See, the thing is, there is no formula to what I do. Sometimes, a song just comes to you, and then sometimes it doesn’t. So I really don’t know what makes me catch a melody. So how do I take something seriously when I don’t even know how it’s done? It just comes from somewhere.
Which has been the most challenging number to score and the one that’s been the most satisfying so far?
See, Ranjha has been really satisfying. When I made Kho gaye hum kahan (from Baar Baar Dekho), everyone kept telling me it’s a niche song, but it became really popular after two years. Nachne de saare (also from Baar Baar Dekho) and Ranjha have been instant successes, but most of my other songs have taken time to get popular.
Raatein. Scored and sung by Jasleen, this ear-pleasing song from Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay is an evergreen favourite.
The pandemic has stopped live concerts for a while and there are no nightclubs to gauge how popular a song has become. What’s the barometer for singers and composers now to understand whether a number has done well or not? Has social media become an important tool to measure success?
Yes, definitely! People pick up on good songs, whether it’s a film song or an independent number. Even a Sri Lankan song (Manike mage hithe) has become massively popular on social media, even though we don’t understand the language. It’s a really cool time because as composers, we are not really dependent on the big, traditional players to release our music. You just have to put it out, and if it’s good, people will pick it up.
What do you think are your strengths as a singer and music maker? You have a very different voice from that of your contemporaries and you also play multiple instruments....
I think my core strength is making melodies. I spend a lot of time creating a song in my head, and singing is just a by-product of it.
Was making music a childhood dream?
No one from my family is into music. I come from a lower middle-class family, or at least that’s what we were when I was growing up. So it was a big deal for my parents to spend on my music lessons or buy me instruments. I remember how much my mom and I had to save to buy that one big keyboard. I remember I was in tears because I wanted it so much and she somehow managed to get me that keyboard. I was a kid when I told my mom I wanted to be a music composer and I pointed to A.R. Rahman at an awards show.
Who are your inspirations?
A.R. Rahman, for sure. I love Lucky Ali. Amit Trivedi, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sachin-Jigar, Vishal-Shekhar... they make great music.
What are you listening to now, apart from your own?
I don’t listen to my songs, ya! I get really bored of them because while making them I anyway have to keep listening to them! (Laughs) Right now, I am listening to Chidiya by Vilen, Baari by Bilal Saeed and Momina Mustehsan and Lost Stars (by Adam Levine) from the film Begin Again. That’s one of my favourite films.
You recently went on a trip to Ladakh with your girl pals Sara Ali Khan and Radhika Madan. What was that like?
It was a lot of fun! All three of us are very busy, and we realised we had some common time when we were free, so we decided to go on this trip. We made the most of it, and it was lovely!
My favourite Jasleen Royal song is... Tell t2@abp.in
