There is no competition here: Payal Dev

If you found yourself gyrating to the party tracks of the season— The Jawaani Song and Mumbai Dilli Di Kudiyaan from Student Of The Year 2, let us enlighten you that the voice behind them is that of Payal Dev. The Saara Zamana (Kaabil) songstress has also sung Jatt Ludhiyane Da in the Tiger Shroff-Ananya Panday-Tara Sutaria starrer. Payal spoke to After Hrs about working with composers Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani for the same...

All the three tracks for SOTY2 are high on energy. What was the brief given to you by the composers?

The songs are entirely different from one another — one is a high-beat tempo, one is a disco number and another one is a mid-tempo. All the three songs had a completely different voice requirement. When I first listened to the composition, I thought that I could surely try a new tone. Vishal and Shekhar had a thought process as to how things were supposed to go by. They wanted The Jawaani Song to be an energetic number, Mumbai Dilli to be an open number and Jatt Ludhiyane Da to be husky so that it can suit the girls. They helped me explore my three different tones which make the songs entirely different from one another.

Which one did you enjoy singing the most and why?

It has to be Jatt Ludhiyane Da. It’s a mid tempo song that appeals to the generation and the trend. It’s my personal favourite. It was the first song that I recorded for SOTY2. I have sung in a tone which I have never used before. It was Vishal’s idea to use a soft tone because both Tara and Ananya are young — and it would suit them. And after recording the song, when I saw the video, I felt that it was the perfect decision taken by the composers. 

Ananya Panday in Mumbai Dilli Di Kudiyaan

There is so much competition out there in terms of singers. How do you ensure your voice stands out amidst the crowd? How do you lend your personal touch to it?

In reality, our industry has no competition. There are a lot of singers who have different tones and styles. Each song has a particular requirement and every track is not suited to every singer. If I am suited for a particular song, I would get a call. Sunidhi (Chauhan), Shreya (Ghoshal), Neeti (Mohan), Shalmali (Kholgade) all have their own unique styles and ways. Singers are decided upon the requirement which is to be fulfilled by the song. Hence, there is no competition — the industry is like a family. I try and focus on myself. My competition is with my own self as to what shall I try and experiment, so that I sound different.

Any plans for singles?

Yes, I have sung singles previously and I plan to sing more of them in the near future. I am going to shoot them really soon and hopefully, they will release in a short time after that. I plan on doing 4-5 singles in this year. 

Are there any composers or co-singers on your wish list?

I would love to sing for composers whom I have worked with before and also with the ones that I haven’t gotten a chance to work till now. It would help to increase my experience — like Vishal-Shekhar in the song Jatt Ludhiyane Da helped me discover a new voice which I never knew existed. Similarly, there might be a few other things which I would be unaware of, but experiences like this would help me explore them. I would love to sing for everyone. My favourites include Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Mithoon, Rochak Kohli and Sajid-Wajid. I have sung for Sajid-Wajid previously in Welcome to New York and it was a great experience. But I would love to sing for all the music composers out there.