'I miss having 'ghar ka chawal'

Singer Brijesh Shandilya rose to fame with his song ‘Banno Tera Swagger’ from the film ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’.

Not only did the song become a hit among the audience but it also won him the GiMA Award for the Best Duo/ Group song and Mirchi Jubilee Platinum Disc Award.  Brijesh has also sung the title track of Salman Khan starrer ‘Jai Ho’, another song in ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’ and ‘Mera Nachan Nu’ from ‘Airlift’.

The singer is now excited about his recently released song, ‘Swag’, featuring Tiger Shroff and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, from the film ‘Munna Michael’.  Known for his amazing energy on stage, Brijesh chats with Anushree Agarwal about his projects, hometown and more.

How excited are you about ‘Swag’?
Given the number of views the song has received and the way people are listening to it, I am very excited and enjoying everything!

You recently released a single on Mother’s Day titled ‘Oh Re Mai’. Tell us about it.
It has been composed and sung by me and the lyrics are by Tulika Upadhyaya. Whenever my friends and I get together, we talk about our mothers, what they do for us and how we miss being with them. So I wanted to give a nice gift to all moms for all the love they shower upon their children. This song is just that.

We hear you’ve sung a song for Tamil film ‘Spyder’. How was the experience?
Fantastic! Working with composer Harris Jayaraj was an achievement for me. He is a very humble person.

The film is shot in both Tamil and Telugu and I have one song in it. I am really excited that people will get to listen to it around Dussehra. It’s something different.

Two artistes you’d like to work with.
A R Rahman and Amit Trivedi.

Two songs that you can never get bored listening to...
‘O Majhi Re’ by Kishore Kumar from the film ‘Khushboo’ and ‘Kasme Vaade’ by Manna Dey from ‘Upkar’.

What do you miss the most about your native place in Uttar Pradesh?
I belong to a village named Mahadeva near Basti district in UP. I miss my childhood, all the roads and lanes where I was raised and the many friends with whom I played and had a good time with.

Living in Mumbai, do you miss food from back home?
I miss having  ‘ghar ka chawal, dal, sabzi’. I don’t find that taste in Mumbai. Particularly, the crisp, desi ‘aloo ki bhujia’; the locally sourced ‘toor dal’ which has a distinct earthy flavour and this variety of rice called ‘kala namak’.  During winters, I miss having this ‘tamatar dhaniya chutney’ (tomato coriander chutney).

What do you do in your leisure time?
I like to exercise and play sports like badminton and football. And yes, I also like cooking something myself and eating it. I love making mutton.