When it comes to Bollywood music, Ash King is right up among the stars. In his decade-long career, the singer (born Ashutosh Ganguly), who is originally from Calcutta, has given one hit after another — from Barish to Sorry, which is his most recent. Besides Bollywood, he is working on getting back to his independent R&B project. Here’s more from the 40-year-old singer, who was recently in Calcutta for a gig — Pre-Holi Bash with Ash King, in association with The Telegraph, at Refinery 091.

How does it feel to be back in Calcutta?

It’s always great to land here because I’m half Bengali and my music owes a lot to Bengal. I’m in a place where people understand me a bit more.

We saw an Instagram picture of you sitting atop a taxi!

Yeah (laughs), I was waiting for my car and then I realised I was sitting on one. I was taking some pictures and the post did quite well! I was really shocked.

You latest release — Sorry — came out on March 4. Do you think it’s doing as well as expected?

I stopped looking at how well a song does years ago. Because I realised after Te amo and I love you... and these songs, I can’t expect every song to compete with that. Or you’ll just set yourself up for disappointment. ‘Oh this song is a major hit’ but what is a “major hit?”. I love you is a well-known song but it doesn’t have as many views as a Nazar na lage. So you can’t really gauge how a song really is going only by figures. Second, who cares? People are here to hear me sing live, what more do you want?

Ash King, during his recent visit to Calcutta, was spotted atop the iconic yellow cab. Picture: Ash King/Instagram

A lot of couples right now can really relate to the message of Sorry as it is about staying away from each other because of the pandemic...

I just sung the song, I didn’t write it. The story is something a lot of people relate to... Gen X. When you’re younger, you’re still in the process of finding yourself, so a relationship with anyone is very much to do with how much you know about yourself. These kind of songs relate to people who are finding themselves and trying to find each other at the same time.

Sonically, your voice lends a soulful touch to it, something like R&B...

If you hear what a DJ is playing, a lot of that music is from the West. It just goes to show that India is accepting of all kinds of music; it’s just that we don’t produce that kind of music because we don’t have the culture for it. For example, R&B. It is a culture just like hip-hop and rap. To make that kind of music you need people who know it. There’s a lot of cultivation that’s required. R&B is one of the genres I explored before Bollywood and when this song came up, I said: “Yes man, R&B!”

Since this song is about the lockdown, how were you doing last year?

Lockdown was like a realisation for me. I got a chance to reflect on all the music and shows I was doing before that and how I was spending my time before lockdown. During lockdown I had all this time. What do I do? Am I productive? So I started doing live sessions on Instagram sporting a big beard and hair (laughs). And I started to connect with a lot of people who listen to me. On Insta, I’m accessible to fans. And I just thought: “Wow, they like my songs.” Then I started to think, what is my legacy? I’ve done many songs with many well-known artistes but I am still young enough to create more of a legacy, so what would that be? I am still doing Bollywood but I’m thinking more about my independent side. So I did a song called Highway that did well. And even with Sorry... I didn’t want to do something that’s already done. I’m not an actor, I want to be me in the videos. The lockdown made me appreciate myself more as an artiste than as an entertainer.

From an artiste’s perspective, do you think the music industry has done a good job powering through the pandemic?

The world just goes on and you have to find a way to keep going. Change is constant, you have to adapt to the situation you’re in. The energy you have will determine if you’re successful or not. What do we do now? How do we embrace the technology we have? So people did things online, everyone is on Instagram, even Facebook is making a small comeback. It is easy to have negative energy and complain but you can also utilise the time you have. You have to keep going.

On February 14 you had your first public show after a year. How did it feel to be on stage?

On February 14 we were in the Northeast and you had to be there to believe it. There was like 20,000 people. It was like, landing in Guwahati, driving for six hours and then another two hours off-road. It was all bumpy and I’ll never forget that... I was on the moon. When we did that show, oh my God, I felt proud. I love the Northeast! The states here are among our treasures.

Does the second wave of Covid-19 scare you?

The vaccine is out and people are getting it. There’s always a bit of... once the dust settles kind of a situation (laughs). I had Covid and I got over it. It was a mild case. My family members have received the vaccine.

Looking forward, what projects can we expect?

Well, some Bollywood stuff, some of my independent R&B and we’re going to do more stuff online. Because a lot of people are using online platforms to access music, so we need to embrace that. I also just spoke to someone about recording a few new Bengali songs. We have a lot of composers who are not Bengali but listen to Bengali music and they want to try their hand. Also, I’ve recently recorded something with Sachin-Jigar. We need new ideas and I’m there to sing away!