Essentially a folk singer, Aanchal Shrivastava shot to fame with the song Dil shagna da from Four More Shots Please! — the series headlined by Sayani Gupta, Manvi Gagroo, Kriti Kulhari and Bani J. The Mumbai-based singer is back with another number for the third season of the series and this time she sings a thumri, a genre that takes her out of her comfort zone and compels her to sing on a scale that she would have otherwise never attempted as an indie singer. An immersive track, Doobi tujh mein made Aanchal rediscover her skills and boosted her confidence. A tete-a-tete with the singer-composer and lyricist whose independent tracks include Kabhi chupi likhi with Abhijeet Sawant of Indian Idol fame, Chithi khat aur tum and Raat among many others.
It is Four More Shots Please! that shines on your discography and you are back with another number for the same series. Tell us how it worked out for you this time?
I have been fortunate to have worked with such talented artistes. Composer Mikey McCleary and the team had more confidence in me than I had in myself. Mikey who was supervising the project knew about my genre and my capabilities. For this season, we were sure that we were doing a thumri and not a folk and we pulled out an original thumri as required. However, just two weeks before submission there were concerns of copyright issues so we had to shelve it and redo everything. So, we created an original piece in just one week and thankfully it was approved. This song was a rollercoaster ride for us.
How was the experience given that you are calling it a rollercoaster ride…
Frankly speaking, it was scarry given that it is not my genre. I have a very different voice, which is set for different flavour of songs. Like I know I cannot sing an item number because I know I am not cut out for it. So, singing on a particular scale that is required for singing thumri was the biggest challenge for me. Decades back the scale would define a singer, thankfully we didn’t adhere to the same parameters now but we chose a scale higher than I usually sing in. In fact, if I was making the song, I would have picked up two less scales than what I have sang on now. So, that was a major challenge. Also, apart from the scale, thumri has a lot of other nuances, harkatein and nazakat which is very integral to a set. And I being a folk and not a classical or semi-classic singer, had no inkling about these nuances. Added to all of these was the pressure to finish the project in a week. So we would start working at 7 in the evening and not leave the studio before 7 in the morning. And I would gulp down 10-15 cups of black coffee to keep myself awake and focussed. It went on for a week! Despite the challenges I enjoyed it thoroughly.
This experience of Four More Shots Please! have been as good as any indie song for me because this is what we do — we sit and write and make a composition in a short time. So, we would send the compositions to Mikey in Australia who would give us feedbacks and then we would work on it and send it to him again. In fact, I lost it on the last day of submission and started crying because things were not working out. However, we got a call that day itself and we all could heave a sigh of relief. I had to handle too much pressure but at the end it was worth it.
I have a very different voice, which is set for different flavour of songs, like I know I cannot sing an item number because I know I am not cut out for it. So, singing on a particular scale that is required for singing thumri was the biggest challenge for me — Aanchal
Since it wasn’t your genre how did you prepare yourself for the song?
The first two days was all about thumri sessions and I took guidance from the thumri queen Shubha Mudgal. I also took lessons from Avanti Patel, a renowned classical singer of my generation and we connected really well. They both guided me on the knowhow of the genre. So things seemed less daunting when I set off to sing the song.
You came out of your comfort zone for this song. How does it feel?
It feels like getting a big award. I have never done a thumri before and if not for Four More Shots Please! I would have never attempted it. I was under a lot of pressure but the team was persistent and they kept pushing me and encouraging me so much that I pulled off an impressive thumri.
I guess it taught you not to underestimate yourself...
Totally! I wouldn’t have known that I can move beyond my set genre and attempt something as challenging. So yes, never underestimate yourself.
Talking about your last hit, Dil shagna da, how did it feel when it became a massive hit?
I come from a middle class background and all these things are very new to us. Of course, it felt good when the song was played at weddings and trending on Instagram reels and was literally everywhere. Four More Shots Please! was a big project for us but we never imagined that the song will touch millions and reach this scale. Post the song’s success I was flooded with messages and even offers for similar songs. For instance, the recreated version of Teri hogaiyaan for Vikrant Massey’s wedding video.
Moving on to your independent numbers, what can we expect next?
My next indie song is with Kanishk Seth who has co-sung with me. The song is called Kahan and it’s composed and written by me. The song is ready, the ideation on the music video is done and very soon we will be ready with it. We were only waiting for Four More Shots Please!’s announcement to get over. We have plans of releasing it end of November or first week of December.