With ‘Rasiya’ (‘Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva’), Tushar Joshi has scored his biggest hit as a singer. The romantic number from the Ranbir Kapoor – Alia Bhatt starrer became popular as soon the audience caught a glimpse of it in the film. Once the full-fledged audio track (and a video accompanying it) released on 24 September, it became a chartbuster.
Tushar has had a long journey in the Hindi film and music industry. He has worked in various departments of music and that has played an important role in shaping his artistic abilities and musical sensibilities. Apart from composing and producing many hit songs, he has lent his voice as a singer to many notable films including ‘Jagga Jasoos’ (‘Musafir’), ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ (‘Phurrr’), ‘Kalank’ (‘Aira Gaira’), ‘Woh Din’ (‘Chhichhore’), ‘Jaadugari’ (‘Jaadugar’) and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ (‘Ami Je Tomar Tandav’), among others.
In this interview, the singer – musician talks about the process of singing ‘Rasiya’, long-standing association with Pritam, the importance of training, journey in the music industry, releasing independent music and more.
In ‘Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva’, ‘Rasiya’ was played in bits and parts and yet, it left a huge impression on the audience. After the release of the film, people started making cover versions of the song and uploading it on YouTube even though the full song hadn’t released by then. After the release of the full version, its popularity has grown exponentially. What kind of feelings are you going through at the moment?
It’s wonderful to see the song getting so much love. Initially, ‘Rasiya’ was designed as a background track for the film. It was the main love theme of Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor) and Isha (Alia Bhatt). I recorded a small portion of the song which they needed for the film. A few months later, Pritam da called me again to record the full song. When I started my journey in the industry, I had a dream to sing a duet with Shreya Ghoshal. With ‘Rasiya’, I finally got that opportunity. As a singer, ‘Rasiya’ has been the most special song in my career.
Earlier this year, ‘Ami Je Tomar’ from ’Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ came out. There were multiple versions of the song on the album but the one you had sung made it to the film. It was used in the climax and had a haunting feel to it.
The version I sang for the film was called ‘Ami Je Tomar Tandav’. Actually, I recorded it a few years back and forgot about it. I got to know it has been used in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ the day the film released in the theatres. It was a pleasant surprise for me. It was very different from the original ‘Ami Je Tomar’ which we first heard in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007) and was very dark. It was in sync with the theme of the film.
You started uploading cover versions of popular Hindi songs on YouTube way back in 2013 when this was not very common. Did that help you get some work or make inroads into the industry?
Yes, it did help me get some work during those days. After I came to Mumbai, I realized that getting a meeting with people in the industry itself was a very difficult task. People were not very approachable and one didn’t know how to look for work. The first video that I uploaded on YouTube was a cover version of ‘Ajib Dastan Hai Yeh’ (‘Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai’). It featured me as the singer and a friend of mine was playing the guitar. Actually, we had recorded the video on a digital camera in 2012. Almost a year later, we decided to put it up on YouTube. At that time, YouTube was not as big as it is today. We got a very good response for the video and that encouraged me to put out more videos. Through these videos, some people in the industry took notice of me and called me for work. I started getting some work in advertising. These videos served as an introduction to my voice.
One of your first released songs as a lead vocalist was ‘Musafir’ from ‘Jagga Jasoos’. Before that, you had worked with Pritam on a bunch of films in different capacities. Apart from singing, you worked with him as a vocal conductor and music producer on films like ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Dangal’. How and when did you start working with Pritam?
I joined Pritam da as an assistant in the year 2016. He had just started working on ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ then. When we were working on ‘Jagga Jasoos’, he asked me to try ‘Musafir’. He thought that my voice suited the song very well and decided to retain it. I was also one of the singers on ‘Khaana Khaake’. ‘Jagga Jasoos’ was a musical and had 29 original tracks. Out of those 29 tracks, I had sung 15. In a way, I was Ranbir’s voice in the film. I worked with Pritam da for 4-5 years at a stretch.
One of my favourite songs sung by you is the underrated ‘Raanjhan’ from ‘Bhangra Paa Le’. Is there any song that is close to your heart?
It is hard to pick a favourite but ‘Woh Din Bhi Kya Din The’ from ‘Chhichhore’ is very close to my heart. The song became much more popular during the Covid-19 situation when everybody was sitting at home and missing their friends. I love the song for what it tries to convey.
You have been releasing a lot of singles independently. As compared to making music for films, do you find the independent space to be more liberating?
Making music independently is quite an interesting process as you are doing everything on your own. However, there are some challenges associated with it as well. You don’t have a lot of resources to promote these songs. You are largely dependent on the people who follow your work. I am having a lot of fun working in this space. Apart from singing, I am composing and producing these songs. Though I am not a writer, I have written a few of my songs and learnt a lot during this process. While creating independent music, I have managed to pick up a lot of skills.
Do you have formal training in music?
Yes, I grew up in Jabalpur, a city in Madhya Pradesh. I did my Sangeet Visharad in Hindustani classical vocals. I came to Mumbai in the year 2009. It took me eight long years to get my first break as a singer. Though I faced my share of struggles, I made it a point to keep learning new things with time.
How important, do you think, is training for a singer or a musician?
I personally feel that formal training is very important. It gives you a solid foundation. Training makes it possible for music to become a part of your muscle memory. That is one thing which is very important. Of course, there are many things which you could pick up on your own as well. I am a trained vocalist but I learnt to play the keyboard myself. I am also a self-taught music producer. There are many singers and musicians who are not formally trained but have put in a lot of effort to learn about different aspects of music. Whether you opt for formal training or wish to be self-taught, you have to work very hard on your craft.
What is that one quality of Pritam that inspires you the most?
I have learnt innumerable things from Pritam da. He is one of the most hard-working individuals I have known. He gets completely absorbed in his work and remains oblivious of all that is happening in the outside world. He is a perfectionist and gives a lot of time to each and every song he composes. He is always thinking as to how a song can be bettered. For him, work is workship. That is the reason why he has been setting a new benchmark with each film. Another great quality about him is that he is open to feedback from everyone. Whenever he creates something, he shares it with his team and asks everybody to share their thoughts on it.
Apart from composing your singles, you have also worked as a composer on some web shows including ‘The Reunion’. Do you plan to compose for films?
I had composed ‘Allah Duhai’ for ‘Race 3’. On that song, I was credited as ‘TJ’. At that time, I was focussed on building a career as a singer, so I chose not to use my full name as a composer. I am not sure if that was the right thing to do. They wanted to use ‘Allah Duhai’ but wanted a different mukhda. Pritam da gave me the responsibility to recreate the song and I will always be grateful to him for that. I have done a lot of work as a programmer and a producer. At this point in my career, I want to do more work as a singer. However, if I get good opportunities as a composer, I would take them up.
What are you doing next?
I am working on a bunch of singles which will be out soon. Apart from singing for a few composers, I am also doing some work as a music producer.