As renowned singer Sukhwinder Singh gears up for a concert in City Beautiful, he says he always tries to reinvent himself with each song
Catching singer Sukhwinder Singh live is a vibe! The Jai Ho singer lands in Chandigarh on Thursday to promote his first ticketed concert to be held in the city. Sukhwinder talks about his journey, love for food and the City Beautiful. In a mood to sing too, Sukhwinder croons a few of his fan-favourite melodies and charms everyone with fun stories from his life.
Even though Sukhwinder started his musical journey very early — performed at eight and composed at 13 — he believes it’s never late to follow one’s passion for singing. He says, “An artiste should never stop learning. I always try to reinvent myself and in doing so, it is for the first time that I will be performing with an orchestra of more than 37 members. Earlier, I used to perform with a 15-person team. But I wish to create an immersive experience for audiences. I am inspired from Taal Kacheri and wish to include a similar process in my concerts, starting from Chandigarh.”
Chandigarh love
Praising Chandigarh for being a blessed city with the Sukhna Lake, hill stations at a few kilometres drive, systematic and planned infrastructure, Sukhwinder expresses his wish to own a small abode in the city. He adds, “Also, I find people in Chandigarh to be good- looking, with great sense of dressing and they are very welcoming too. Ithe aa ke dil aashiqana ho janda e.”
Sukhwinder, who hails from Ambarsar (Amritsar), as he calls it, says the attachment with chole kulche stems from his home city, but eating it anywhere in Punjab gives him the same happy feeling. He often visits Chandigarh and Punjab, but sometimes likes to keep it a private affair.
Visual element
Sukhwinder confesses how sometimes he likes to have a visual element to get into the mood of a song. He shares, “For the song Dard-E-Disco (Om Shanti Om), I requested Shah Rukh Khan for flowers in the whole studio where we were recording. Similarly, for the song Fashion Ka Jalwa (Fashion), I had requested Madhur Bhandarkar to bring a glamour element to the studio; if not the main cast, at least the others. It helped me in understanding the essence of the song.”
memory bank
Sukhwinder recalls wearing a red tie at a live show in Panjab University years ago and how a fan held on to it, before putting forth a weird demand. The other was an impromptu concert for Army personnel near Gujrat border, which went on for two hours.
As for his favourite songs, Sukhwinder praises Chaiyya Chaiyya and Jai Ho. He says, “If Jai Ho is a bridge that traversed the distance from traditional to global, then Chaiyya Chaiyya is ibadat because it has everything — dance, singing and melody.”
(The concert will be held on February 24 at the Sector 34 Exhibition Ground, starting 5:30 pm)
