Musician Shekhar Ravjiani: Last couple of years have been among my most creatively rewarding

Composer-singer Shekhar Ravjiani, now Sheykhar, recently released his first non-film Hindi pop song, ‘Rang’. (Image: screen grab from 'Rang')

After over two decades in the Hindi film music industry, composer-singer Shekhar Ravjiani, now Sheykhar, released his first non-film Hindi pop song, ‘Rang’, on November 29, 2021. The video has garnered over 7.7 million views and 66,000 likes on YouTube in less than a month.

Sheykhar, one half of the musician duo Vishal-Shekhar, has previously given us Bollywood chartbusters like ‘Meherbaan’ (Bang Bang!), ‘The Hook Up Song’ (Student of the Year 2), ‘Zehnaseeb’ (Hasee Toh Phasee), ‘Bin Tere (Reprise)’ (I Hate Luv Storys) and many others.  He says, “The past couple of years have been among my most creatively rewarding.”

On 20 years as a Bollywood composer and singer

Shekhar says, “It has been...the most amazing roller coaster ride ever... I have met some of the closest people in my life in this business and have learned so much in the past two decades. There's nothing I would change about my experience. Some days were blessings and some days were lessons and all of them have brought me to where I stand today.”

On his creative process

Sheykhar has given us multiple songs in almost every genre possible in the industry. He says that song creation is an organic process. “Every song has a special journey behind it. A lot of great creative energy and instinctive decisions can take a song from good to great. One of my most cherished moments was when I created ‘Zehnaseeb’ for Hasee toh Phasee - from composing the song, to singing it in front of my dearest friend Karan Johar, the whole track came to life in a few hours. I will never forget how much Karan loved the song, and still does. The most beautiful songs happen most organically.”

On creating 'Rang' during the pandemic

During the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns in our country and abroad, things did feel bleak and dark for the musician. However, the intrinsic role of music to usher in light and happiness has been a constant in Sheykhar's life.  He says he composed a lot of songs, including ‘Rang’, during this time. “It was a song that resonated deeply as it has the essence of a classic. It’s a song that took me back to who I was before the world told me who I should be,” he says.

The senior music artiste has composed and sung the track, penned by lyricist Priya Saraiya who has used Braj Boli to convey the earthy hinterland flavour. The Latin-European soundscape with skilled use of acoustic guitars, mandolin and accordion grows on you.

Shekhar adopted the screen name Sheykhar with the release of 'Rang'. He explains, “The release of ‘Rang’, my first non-film Hindi pop song felt like the perfect time for a new screen name and with my mother’s blessings behind me, Sheykhar has felt right in every way possible.”

There was a lot that went into creating the video. “One of the challenges we had with our ‘twilight’ concept was that the video had to be shot in 20 minutes to capture all the action against the setting sun. It was one of the most organic and instinctive creative experiences for everyone on set. The whole team rallied together to make this happen,” he says.

On acting in Bollywood

“Acting in Neerja was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I received a lot of love and appreciation for my performance, and feel honoured to have been associated with such a powerful and meaningful film," he says.

So will we see him on the big screen again soon?

"Acting is something I have always done for the pure passion and joy of it and I have been offered many different roles and scripts," he says. "I recently played the role of ‘Nirvik’ alongside Shibani Dandekar in the short film ‘Dinner In Lockdown’, directed by Indrani Ray as a part of the VOOT Film Festival and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. Looking forward to more such adventures!”