Classically smitten

passionate playback

Sukhwinder Singh’s ardent desire to explore the unceasing zenith of music seems to be increasing with the passage  of time. The euphoric fever of exploring the unexplored has gripped the deep-rooted singer, giving way to various realisations, revelations and
experiments about his style, form of music and his long-standing romance with the art form. His thoughts, speeches, metaphors, feelings, observations and
passion relate to music. His imagination and philosophy of life refuse to go beyond the boundaries of seven notes.

Music defies boundaries and speaks one common language. Thinking along the same lines, Sukhwinder believes that though his style of singing is greatly influenced by Sufi music, he is equally influenced by Carnatic music. “My singing does have a certain Carnatic style,” says Sukhwinder emphatically. Sukhwinder, who trained in Indian classical music, Punjabi folk and Latin music among others, revealed that he did not know of the similarities between Punjabi classical folk and Carnatic.

“Both Sufi and Carnatic music have the combination of pain and dance. A person who is well-versed in Carnatic music will realise that my singing is deeply connected to Carnatic style,” he adds. Sukhwinder’s love for Carnatic music is the reason behind him rating it as the best in the world. “If I have to choose the best musical form in this world, I would have to vote for Carnatic music. It does not mean that I don’t like other forms, but Carnatic is special to me.” Sukhwinder, who draws his inspiration from Pakistani legendary singer, Tufail Niazi, pointed out that even Tufail’s style of singing had elements of Carnatic music in it.

Next on the agenda

The singer has plans of a mega musical show to be aired on television. In fact, Sukhwinder has composed the opening song for this show, and that too, in the Carnatic format. His deep love for music has led him to design a one-of-a-kind show where musicians from across the globe will come together and participate, giving it a global touch. “It will have musicians from various countries, including Bulgaria,
Romania, Argentina, Mexico and Arab participating in the opening segment of the show. We will also have musicians from  other countries participating in the later segments of the show.”

While most musical shows today deal with competition, Sukhwinder has chosen to break away from the path with his plans to keep the show solely based on performance. “There will be no award but only reward for participants in the show,” quips the singer, adding, “The show will only speak about music where anyone who has the talent and passion for music will participate. There will no judges, no competition, but only performance.” Sukhwinder says that this has been one of the most ambitious projects he has worked on.

The effortless singer  elaborates, “It’s a mega budget project and I expect that it will be on air by February next year.” Referring to the ongoing trend in musical reality shows where controversy has become the trend in order to rake in the TRPs, Sukhwinder quips,
“My show will be devoid of any tamasha and will only speak about music. It will not have any debates, but only debuts.”

Sukhwinder had forayed into the small screen as a judge in Star Plus’s musical reality show, Voice Of India. In fact, the singer says that it was he who had approached the channel to be a judge on the show as he wanted to make certain ‘corrections’. He adds,

“The people at the channel were surprised when I approached them for considering me as a judge. But I did that because I felt that there are a few things which need to be changed. I felt music had taken a backseat in these shows as more focus was given to other things such as style and showbiz. I went there to convey my message that talent and passion are more important than style and showbiz. I tried to tell the contestants that style does not lead to good performance, but passion and good performance lead to style.”

The energetic singer made a mark in Bollywood playback singing by giving timeless hits like Chhaiya chhaiya, Chak de India, Taal se taal mila, Omkara, and more recently, Dabbaang, among many others. However, it would seem that he has cut short on his assignments.

The singer, famous for his metaphors and one-liners quips, “I am busy with less work.” The legendary singer who lent his voice to the Oscar-winning A R Rehman song, Jai ho, in the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, says, “Passion and dedication are the basic requirements if a true artist wishes to create some of the greatest works”.

Sukhwinder has recently completed recording for some big budget Bollywood movies including a Sanjay Dutt starrer, Zilla Ghaziabad, Karan Johar’s Agni Path, Rohit Shetty’s Bol Bachchan, Ram Gopal Varma’s multi-starrer movie, Department, and an untitled film by Vishaal Bharadwaj among others.