Jubin Nautiyal never fails to enrapture hearts with his voice, and he did it again with Agar Ho Tum from Mr. and Mrs. Mahi. So without any further ado, The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha quickly connects with the adroit singer over telephonic interaction about the track and a lot more exclusive tidbits.
Tejal Sinha
There’s something mesmerising about his voice that makes us all ooze through his vocals that’s more than just about pleasing one’s ears. From romantic melodies like Raataan Lambiyan to spiritual ones, including Mere Maa Ke Barabar Koi Nahi, to dance numbers like Akh Lad Jaave, our guest for this week’s special Celeb Talk segment, never fails to win hearts. It’s none other than the adroit and much-talented Jubin Nautiyal, who has once again made it to our hearts with Mr. and Mrs. Mahi’s Agar Ho Tum.
There are some songs that you love so much that nothing else bothers you. And for Jubin, Agar Ho Tum is that song. Basically, he feels these are the songs that resonate most with people.
“Honestly, it’s a very unusual song,” begins the Teri Galliyon Se singer over an exclusive call with The Pioneer, who is certainly as sweet as his voice. Now what really makes Agar Ho Tum special and unique is that he reveals that the track is not like the other Bollywood songs that have a structure. So when he heard the song, he was kind of worried.
Why? Let’s take you to what he informed us: “It has both ranges. It has solid low ranges and high ranges, too. The vocal line is low (as he sings the tune). Whenever there is so much structure in a song, it’s a treat for the singer. I love playing with structures, and I love playing with my highs and lows. And this is the beauty of Tanishk Bagchi.”
The lyrics by Kausar Munir, he says, very well resonate with the feelings of a lover. “Kausar Munir is a golden writer; she has a golden pen. She puts the most personal thoughts in the most relatable way, and that’s the beauty of her writing. Especially in a song like Agar Ho Tum, if you talk about love, it should be exactly like the song, easily hummable, and at the same time capture all the fragments of emotions. When it comes to Agar Ho Tum, that’s exactly how a lover thinks: ‘Agar Ho Tum toh vaisa ho sakta hai, agar ho tum toh aisa ho sakta hai….’ When words and voice work together, it works as magic,” shares the virtuoso as he continues to croons his favourite line.
Yet again, we got to be pleased by the Tanishk Bagchi and Jubin Nautiyal duo after some smacking hits! Personally, working with Tanishk was once again something the Rabba Janda fame enjoyed.
An ecstatic Jubin continues, “We almost started our careers together, and today, reaching this stage in life, we are doing big films together, great songs together, and at the same time getting so much love from people. You get to know when the love is not genuine. But when a song like this does well, the credits go to Tanishk Bagchi again. He is a brilliant composer. There is so much more that’s going to rule your playlist in the years to come.”
The Humnava Mere vocalists undeniably still hold the same craze and give off the vibe of a fresh face in the industry. Why, you wonder? He always brings in something new and better every time he comes up with a new track.
He laughs out loud as he shares, “I think a man can become a lot of things, but for a man to age gracefully, I think that’s the whole point of being an artist. Aging gracefully is one thing, but my voice is also aging. There are music labels, publicists, musicians, and management; there’s so much that comes together that makes an artist reach a point and be consistent with their work and music. I just go and sing, it’s the people who make me who I am.”
Over the years, music has become an important part of the film’s promotion. Even before the release, if the music turns out to be a hit, then people are further drawn towards watching the films in theaters.
And now, with the songs of Mr. and Mrs. Mahi, he enthuses, “When we talk of Bollywood, music has always been an integral part. There’s no other industry where the music is used as it is here. That being said, India is a great place for musical artists because there are so many opportunities to do so much music. If you look back in the West or anywhere in the world, an artist’s entire catalog is around 15-20 songs or 40 songs in their entire career. And here we do 15–16 songs in a year (we laugh). We do so much music because of the opportunity that’s been there. But today again, films like Shershaah, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar, or now with Mr. and Mrs. Mahi, are made out of love, for love, and which depict emotions and expressions of love.”
And if Jubin Nautiyal is the voice, then how can one not fall in love again (wink)?
“We are a very musical community, I must say. Music has now gone to the next level since people have learned how to consume music on audio. For a very long time, India was just watching music. Today, with platforms like Spotify and other audio-streaming platforms, people have now become used to listening to music,” explicates the Meethi Meethi singer.
“Arey nahi yaar mat karo,” says the Haaniya Ve singer on a funny note as we ask him about his acting plans. And why not? He so beautifully merges his voice with his acting prowess that we get to see it in his musical videos. “I don’t want to get into acting. I act because of music, especially when I personally and sincerely relate to a character. My journey began because of music, and I don’t want to do anything just because I’m getting an opportunity. Acting is definitely not on my cards, but some days if I end up doing acting, it’s only going to be because of great music.”
Not only Bollywood, but there’s a whole different craze that Jubin enjoys with the regional songs. And he always looks forward to singing everything that touches him as an artist.
“When I sang a song in my regional language on MTV Unplugged, the reception from people in my native country and eventually from the whole country was just overwhelming. I got so much love from my people for singing a song in our local dialect. So I was like, why not give that love to the entire country? We are a country of so many people with a lot of languages. So when I started doing Telugu, Tamil, and Bengali and tried Marathi, I couldn’t crack that. So I have attempted to sing in as many languages as possible. If the song is nice, I might not understand the language, but I will write it down and try it at my best,” shares our star on a concluding note.
