‘If I act, I will act for the music’ — Jubin Nautiyal

From small studios we’ve taken some responsibility to make big songs. When we make a song and it ends up being released, people listen to it, live with that song and make memories with that song. The fans like that song more than I do. That’s what I saw at the Wynk fan meeting.

There is a saying that if an artist takes a hit, he is spoiled. So this is the blow we are working hard for. And when such moments occur, we feel like we have achieved the result.

I think since the activation of social media there is no more mystery. Since there were no phones and no moment to capture on camera in the ’80s and ’90s, people went crazy when they saw celebrities. And the great thing is: that is not the case now. Because we need to grow as a nation. We have to adapt and understand that celebrities are people too. And we should never abuse that. No celebrity should benefit from this. I think this is a good practice. The fans give you a very accurate assessment of how you are perceived by the public. It’s a great start from Wink in connecting the artist and the fans. I think it gives you a lot of perspective in life.

We make so many songs now and we forget to listen to them. We don’t even want to listen to them. But I always wanted to make music where I could listen to those songs over and over again and cherish them. I think older songs are what we need.

For example songs like Hello Aana (Marjaavaan), Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur Hum (Kabir Singh)And Raataan Lambiyan (Shershaah), are older songs. If I don’t sing on stage, people won’t let me leave the stage. So that’s the goal. To make music that I am proud of even after 10 years.

We never thought about making an album. We just made songs. And there were some songs that we listened to for 5-6 years and they were still fresh to us. We could still listen to those songs and still enjoy them. Then we selected those songs as part of the album.

Actually, I had a few spiritual songs that became famous. So I was one of the first boys of this generation to take up bhajans so actively. We did Kabir Ke Dohe and some other things. I didn’t mean to do anything like that. The idea was that no one does devotional music. When we were young, we listened to many bhajans by Gulshan Kumarji. We get ours sanskars of ours bhajans.

If you see in life that you feel lost, you will not get an answer to anything. Sometimes there are some personal problems and some work related problems. bhajan is a space where you gain perspective and clarity in life. I didn’t want an entire generation to have never heard of it bhajans. So that’s the idea we started with bhajans.

It was a courageous step as an artist. When an artist is at a good stage of his career, he doesn’t want to sing bhajans. So that was a courageous step on my part as an artist. It paid off very well. Nowadays when we conduct concerts in colleges, around 1 lakh children perform bhajans. It just tells me that the future is in safe hands.

In the past, no one used to sing bhajans. Now that it’s starting to work, everyone will start singing. Intention is very important. If everyone does it, I don’t feel like it. I want to do it when no one does it.

It contains both spirituality and life lessons. Just like Kabir’s dohas, these are basic things that you learn every moment. If these things continue in the muscle memory, I think the sanskars will also come. After all, we are all Indians. It’s better not to forget that.

Sure, there’s a lot of money in film projects. Music is a great platform for film. But today we are in a time where if a girl even looks at the camera and makes expressions, the video will be sensational. We live in a time that is very good for artists. There are a lot of artists like me who come from small towns. Nowadays they don’t need a music label. They can make one themselves YouTube channel. It brings new types of music artists. Artists who have no money or resources can do it. Even teachers can do it. This wave of content creation is not only increasing Indian creativity but also Indian thoughts on creativity.

People listen to everything. From Arijit Singh to Dhinchak Pooja, everything has an audience. There is a market for every song and that makes us believe that there is nothing as good as a bad song. Some songs are loved by the entire country, others only by a fraction. It’s a big increase for our nation.

India is already booming in the field of music. We create hits that are bigger than anywhere else. I know many international artists who want to work in India and collaborate with us because we have a large audience. There are so many of us that every fourth or fifth person in this world is an Indian. We go to shows in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Trinidad, Tobago and America. If you go to Europe, there are about 2,000 to 3,000 Indians in such places. Indian artists tour all over the world. We just toured Australia and it’s crazy. It’s not just about music. There are people who come to support their artists. There are many Indians living abroad who may not even know me as an artist. But because an Indian artist comes from India to perform, they buy a ticket and go and see the show, and that is the strength of our nation. We are going to become the number one country in the world.

I think hair has everything to do with sleep. If you can sleep well, you have good hair. And all that ‘eat this and that’ is fake. Hair is something that works genetically. You can stick with it, but what will ultimately save your hair and keep it healthy is a good night’s sleep and good food. The same goes for the skin. For the rest you do not need any medications or extra care.

When I act, I act for the music. Like for the album I made. I didn’t know I could act, but now I’ve learned I can. If it comes down to it, I can be an actor. But again, it’s a completely different story and I worked very hard to become a musician. If I get a project where I can make great music and act on it, why not?

I want to go all indie and folk with collaborations. There are some brilliant folk artists from my own region that I would love to collaborate with. They call him the Rahman of our mountains, Narendra Singh Negi. Brilliant composer. So I’m working on some of his compositions that he’s done. I believe all those compositions are international hits.