Singer Asees Kaur has been equally active in films and the non-film music space. Recently, she collaborated with vocalist Renuka Panwar on the Hindi version of the very popular song ’52 Gaj Ka Daman’ that was originally sung by the latter. In this interview, she talks about the song, why collaborations are exciting, desire to collaborate with Taylor Swift on a song, the success of ‘Raataan Lambiyaan’ from ‘Shershaah’ and more.
What was your first reaction when you heard the original version of ‘52 Gaj Ka Daman’?
I loved the song when I heard it for the first time. I remember exploring some new regional songs on a streaming app when this song popped up. I got hooked to it instantly. Later, I got to know that it had become the fastest Indian song to have hit the 1 billion mark. I was very happy to see a large song reaching out to such a wide audience. Renuka is very talented and I really enjoyed collaborating with her on the Hindi version.
How did the collaboration happen?
There was this particular day on which Renuka was live on Instagram to celebrate the song hitting the 1 billion mark. We interacted during that live session for the first time. While talking, we discussed the possibility of collaborating for a Hindi version of this song. While working on the Hindi version, we decided to give it a global tadka. We re-wrote Hindi lines for it but retained the original hookline.
It was interesting to see a mainstream Bollywood singer and a regional singer coming together for a song. In an interview, you had stated that you wish to collaborate with Taylor Swift someday.
Yes! Getting to collaborate with Taylor Swift is one of my biggest dreams and I hope it comes true someday. Whenever two artists collaborate, they bring their individual style to the song. The song becomes very special as it is a mix of both the artists’ sensibilities. I saw that happening with ‘52 Gaj Ka Daman’. I will be collaborating with many artists on different tracks in the near future.
Recently, your song ‘Raataan Lambiyaan’ from ‘Shershaah’ became a huge hit.
All the songs I have sung for Tanishk have been very special. ‘Bolna’ (Kapoor & Sons) was our first collaboration together and since then, we have worked together on many songs. I fell in love with the melody of ‘Raataan Lambiyan’ as soon as I heard it for the first time. Almost all the songs I have sung for Tanishk have been dubbed in 15-20 minutes.