'Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj are my friends for life'

...says Sukhwinder Singh who has sung for the latter’s upcoming film, Pataakha
'Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj are my friends for life'

Singer Sukhwinder Singh says he has made friends for life in the film industry. “I have never felt any competition or insecurity about my contemporaries. I always tend to focus on my own singing, my practice and my voice. It takes so much energy and I feel connected to myself and the Almighty that I really do not look outside,” he says.

Having made his mark in the Bollywood playback singing world with the iconic Chaiyya Chaiyya in 1999’s Dil Se, the singer has spent more than two decades in the industry delivering popular songs like Ishq Bina, Ramta Jogi, Rut Aa Gayi Re, Haule Haule, Gajanana, Fashion Ka Jalwa, Chak De India, Udi Udi Jaaye, Sultan and Fateh.

Sukhwinder has lent his voice for songs in upcoming films like Thugs of Hindostan, Zero, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Pataakha.

Talking about how the opportunity of singing songs for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha came his way, Sukhwinder says, “I called him saying, ‘I so wish to have good coffee with you as it has been some time’. We caught up over coffee and a few days later, he called me to his studio and on that day, we actually recorded three songs. We had decided to record the third song later, but we finished that too on the same day.”

About his emotional bonding with lyricist Gulzar and filmmaker-music composer Vishal Bhardwaj, he says, “Don’t look at the age difference. The relationship I share with them is special. They are my friends for life. The fact is, whether it is the magic of friendship or music, it cannot be forced and can never be recreated.  I think the connection just happens. The magic just happens.”

Asked if there is real friendship in the industry, Sukhwinder says, “Yes, I have friends here and we can find friends everywhere depending on what we expect from the next person. If there is one thing that I have learnt, it is that there are various people in the industry and while it is not important to befriend everyone or to like everyone, one must not bad mouth anyone.”

Apart from music, Sukhwinder is enjoying his newfound interest in yoga. “Though I have always practised my singing from childhood, I feel that practising yoga has given me a good energy that has added to my singing,” says the singer, who has also sung for Abhishek Chaubey’s Sonchiriya, for which Bhardwaj has composed the music.

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