As we mark World Music Day on June 21, here are artistes sharing their favourite song and what music means to them

Sheetal

Celebrated on summer solstice, June 21, each year, the World Music Day is an occasion to rejoice and let the soul soak in all the melody. Here are artistes professing their love for music and also sharing the song that they admire the most.

Deep connect

Varun Badola, who is a part of Zee Theatre’s teleplay Wrong Turn, says, “My family is very inclined towards music, so we grew up around great music and rich literature. My father was a brilliant singer. I have imbibed some qualities though I don’t sing as well as my father. I listen to different kinds of music across genres.” Varun’s all-time favourite song is Kishore Kumar’s Main Shayar Badnaam from the hit film Namak Haraam.

Associated with teleplays, Dhumrapaan, Stand Up and The Job, Akarsh Khurana says, “I am obsessed with music. I constantly listen to something or the other. At work also, I take a very keen interest in music. I admire artistes like Blackstratblues, Emancipator, Pretty Lights, Tajdar Junaid, among others.”

Sharing & caring

Joy Sengupta, known for teleplays Womanly Voices, Kanyadaan, Dance Like A Man and Ladies Sangeet, feels that since music is available almost free of cost to people on every platform now, the audience base has increased. “So, many talented artistes are able to reach their audiences directly and listeners too are able to access different kinds of music quite easily. Therefore, this has created a different kind of sharing and caring for music.”

Joy admires Bollywood music of the 50s and-60s. He adds, “This was the phase of SD Burman, Naushad, Ravi, Madan Mohan, Shankar Jaikishan, Salil Chaudhary, and poets like Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Kavi Pradeep.” He favourite song is Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya from the Dev Anand-starrer Hum Dono.

According to Shahbaz Khan, currently seen in Zee Theatre’s teleplay Daag-O–Hijab, music has changed a lot over the years. He says, “These days, there is no lyrical or tonal value in songs. There are many new gadgets that have made music so easy to compose, unlike in earlier times. I like Osman Mir, a fantastic ghazal and folk singer from Gujarat, who has also sung for Sanjay Leela Bhansali.” He also admires artistes like Yanni and Carlos Santana.

Great platform

Internet has given a platform to a lot of artistes to showcase their talent and listeners to explore more. Recently, I enjoyed music from the movie Gehraiyaan; music producers OAFF and Savera did a fantastic job. Underrated artistes such as Saurav Pardal and Chryses should be known to music lovers. —Sameer Singh Sandhu, Music producer

Favourite list

• Happy song: Mahadev by The Collective Projekt
• Sad song: In The End by Linkin Park
• Romantic song: When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating
• Workout song: Beast from the movie Southpaw
• Drive song: Rebirth by Midival Punditz

Independent music

The sudden demise of KK was a blow to Bollywood. I was fortunate enough to have shared the stage with him twice. Music has evolved rapidly in the past few years and one of the key factors is that independent music has risen steadily.Mehdi Maloof and Suzoon are some lesser-known, yet talented artistes.” —Sahil Samuel, Lead vocalist of the band Naalayak

Favourite list

• Happy song: Dil Khirki by Mehdi Maloof
• Sad song: Kuch Is Tarah by Atif Aslam
• Romantic song: Haan Pyaar Hai by Naalayak
• Workout song: Khudi by Local Train
• Drive song: Main Chala by Taba Chake