Nikhita Gandhi on singing for Kangana Ranaut in Dhaakad, collaborations with Badshah and more

Years ago, movie-buffs saw Deepika Padukone sensually swaying her hips and lip-syncing to ‘Raabta’, sung by Nikhita Gandhi. And now, the singer is thrilled to have lent her voice for _Dhaakad_ , starring Kangana Ranaut . She is the voice behind the hit Dhaakad song, ‘She’s on Fire’, co-sung by Badshah. The catchy track has already garnered over 25 million views on YouTube. “Of course, I appreciate the love, the recognition and there are numbers to congratulate oneself with,” she says about her song getting many views. But at the same time, when she makes her own music, she doesn’t keep these numbers on mind. “As long as it touches one person, that’s what matters to me. For me, the most important thing is the song, the art, the music. Then comes everything else,” says the ‘Qaafirana’ singer. Gandhi sang for Kangana for the first time, and she is thrilled about it. “It is exciting for me because the playback journey is very different from the non-playback journey. In non-playback, you are the artist. In playback, it’s about how your voice fits the situation. I have sung for so many beautiful and amazing women. Kangana is also on the list now. I am so happy for that,” says the singer, who has also sung for Anushka Sharma-starrer Jab Harry Met Sejal. _‘She’s on Fir_e’ might be her first song for Kangana, but the number brings back Badshah and Gandhi together after ‘Bad Boy X Bad Girl’ and ‘Jugnu’. “He and I have a mutual understanding and trust. With some people, you need to be in the same room because you are not sure what they require from you when you are singing a song for them. But with Badshah, I think I have got the hang of working with him,” she tells Firstpost. This month also saw her singing ‘Raat Rani’ for web series _Modern Love Mumbai_ . “I was so excited to work for (composer) Ram Sampath. I have been a big fan of his music. There are so many legends and veterans who have been a huge influence. He is one such person. It was fun meeting him. He is such a cool person and super fun to interact with,” says Gandhi, who has worked with AR Rahman on films like O Kadhal Kanmani, Kaatru Veliyidai and Beyond the Clouds. Talking about the difference between singing for a film and a web series, she shares, “When it comes to performing in the studio, it’s the same thing. You give your 100 percent to it. There is a brief and in both the cases, you are singing to a situation or to a mood.” “The differentiation is more between film and OTT on one side and non-film music on the other side which is like the independent stuff. The difference is there because you make music entirely on your own whim. I thoroughly enjoy both. There is a lot of opportunity for new sound in the OTT space, and that’s exciting for me,” she adds. Apart from mediums, she has also explored film industries in different languages. “I respect all the industries. Just because I am a Bollywood singer doesn’t mean I won’t sing in regional languages. It’s a singer’s way of being an actor (when you get to sing a song in a language that you don’t understand). You are pretending to be from that cultural background. It’s always fun to explore the regional languages,” says Gandhi, who has sung for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali films. Looking ahead, she can’t wait to hit the stage later this month. “I am super excited about my India tour. It’s my first ever tour. I will start my tour in Kolkata where I am from and end it in Mumbai where I live now. I’ll be performing in Chennai too where I spent some time. It’s probably going to be nostalgic for me,” she says. Her fans can also expect her to drop new music in the coming months. “There’s a lot of independent music that I have been working on. There is another international collaboration too,” says Gandhi, who previously teamed up with American singer Pink Sweat$.

Natalia Ningthoujam is a Manipur-based journalist. She knows how to smoothly switch from being a fan to a writer whenever needed. She tweets at @nattynick.

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