Known for her bold artistic choices and genre-bending experiments, Shalmali Kholgade continues to carve her own path in the music industry with a voice that’s as fearless as it is versatile. In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer, the acclaimed singer-songwriter delves into the inspiration behind her compelling new English single All good?, offering insights into her creative process, the deeper themes woven into her independent work, and how she navigates the modern-day pressures of image, identity and expression
Tejal Sinha
tejal.sinha30@gmail.com
All good?—a phrase we casually toss around, often to mask the chaos simmering beneath. But in Shalmali Kholgade’s latest single by the same name, the question lingers, demanding introspection. With this striking new English release, now streaming across all major platforms, she returns to the spotlight, blending addictive pop rhythms with a poignant take on the illusion of modern-day perfection.
Renowned for her dynamic stage energy and genre-defying artistry, the Pareshaan singer has once again been turning heads with her viral performances and inventive reinterpretations of beloved tracks. All good? marks another fearless step in her ever-evolving musical journey. While its sonic surface is playful and infectious, the song digs deeper—unpacking the performative habits of consumerism, digital appearances and the endless pursuit of approval. Crafted with layered production, a punchy chorus and sharp lyrical honesty, the track encourages listeners to dance along—and perhaps, pause and reconsider what truly feels “all good.”
“I wrote this song in the lockdown when there was actually time to observe oneself and reflect,” Shalmali shares, talking about how All Good? came to be. “Like most people of my generation and next, I found myself doing things that are superficial and obsessive—buying things you don’t need, appearances on social media, trying to fit in. Even when something feels unnatural, we push through saying ‘all good, all good’. But is it really all good?”
The song’s title, posed as a question, does exactly what it’s meant to: start a conversation. Not just with the listener, but within oneself. “Absolutely,” she affirms, when asked if the track is meant to challenge the surface-level optimism people often project. “I’ve used the phrase ‘all good?’ in two contexts over the song. In the verses, it is used as a self-assuring phrase—‘it’s all good. Keep doing what you’re doing!’ And in the chorus, it is a question to self—‘is it all good?’”
True to Shalmali’s artistic temperament, All Good? steers clear of typical pop structures. “Sonically, All Good? is like nothing I’ve released before,” she explains. “It’s a wordy song without a conventional pop song structure—almost like a sung rap in parts. It was more important for me to say the words in this song over anything else.” The track’s producer, Clifr, known for blending electronic elements with live instrumentation, lent a distinct character to the track with touches like horns, adding eclectic texture to her candid lyrics.
While the song’s soundscape pushes boundaries, its music video plays out like a satire of excess, dripping with stylised irony. “The visual is my dear friend and choreographer Dev Narayan Gupta’s vision,” she says. “We share common aspirations and interests so it was very easy for me to explain what I wanted to say in the video. I wanted to show excess—of clothes, food, bags, pretence. So the narrative of the video just takes you through the lyric.”
Shalmali also took on the mammoth task of styling herself for the video, a process she describes as “exhausting” but ultimately fulfilling. Dev’s choreography, in tandem with cinematographer Karan Shelar’s lens and CGI work, tied together a visual language that walks the line between theatre and commentary. For the Aga bai singer, her independent work has always been more than just music—it’s her personal space to reflect, speak freely, and experiment. “I don’t see All Good? even within independent music as a pop track that has commercial appeal,” she says. “It is songs like this, that are topics I’d like to speak about, genres I’d like to sing in, that I wouldn’t get to otherwise. I often don’t want to write about love, or breakups and those are the more popular topics to write on. So my independent music gives my emotions a place to live.”
The creative process behind All Good? was intimate and unfiltered. “I wrote the entire track by myself in my home studio. It was on a very different production bed then. Clifr really changed the direction of the production for the better.” She reflects on her writing method at the time, which involved writing an essay to explore her thoughts before discovering the title or hook. “The song is a reminder to me to make better use of my time and do meaningful things,” she adds.
As much as All Good? is introspective, it’s also a social commentary—holding up a mirror to millennial and Gen Z culture. “The song holds a mirror to this generation’s culture. Not everything about our present way of living is wonderful, so I hope it makes listeners reflect on their actions. The emotional connect of the song is what matters most to me, over anything else. It’ll be a cherry on the cake if listeners dig the song sonically!”
While the Balam Pichkari fame’s indie work continues to carve out a distinct path, her versatility also shines through in her playback singing. One of her latest ventures, a remake of the cult classic Saat Samundar, is proof of her effortless genre-hopping. “Saat Samundar is a huge song from back in the day. I’ve been singing it in my live shows long before I sang it for Hai Junoon. So I always knew how it sounds in my voice,” she shares. “I think it is a super quirky song, so I was very happy to sing it.”
Despite the pressures and comparisons that usually accompany remakes, she approached it with grounded simplicity. “I think there’s only one way to sing Saat Samundar given the precedent set by the original. The only originality I could bring to it is by virtue of the tone of my voice. All I did was sing the melody as I was instructed and the rest of the job was done by my god-given voice,” she laughs. Surprisingly, she wasn’t given much insight into how the song would be filmed. “I wasn’t aware of how the song would be filmed when I sang it. I knew the basic premise of the show and by the sound of the production, it looked like there’d be choreography on it. So I sang it the way I would a dance number.”
As for the pressure to stand out in a sea of remakes, she’s refreshingly candid: “I didn’t really [try]. It wasn’t my decision to make a remake, so I shouldn’t be the one stressing about it—this is my understanding of it. I always just concern myself with doing the job at hand well.” Then there’s the viral moment that came almost unexpectedly—her mashup Ag Bai X Taambdi Chamdi, which took the internet by storm. The idea, like many of her creations, began organically. “One day, these two songs just played in my head back to back and I started doodling with the arrangement on my music software. What made me smile is that the lyric of both songs were in the same vicinity. Aga Bai is quite a sexual song and Taambdi Chamdi hookline is talking about brown skin shining in the sun… It fit like a glove.”
The mashup is a bold rhythmic celebration—rooted in Marathi folk, yet globally resonant. “I haven’t changed anything from the original as far as the rhythm of Taambdi Chamdi goes. Aga Bai is definitely a significantly new arrangement on the chorus, mostly because this song is for the band to perform over,” she clarifies. Seeing the track take off on reels and social media was a new experience for her. “Even though I’ve been in the industry for a while now, going viral or having a reel view in millions is alien to me. I’m amazed. I think I finally understand what my audience likes and I’ve found a rhythm with them.”
Her music—whether deeply emotional or wickedly playful—has always been grounded in honesty. Her independent discography in particular speaks of a woman who’s constantly evolving, both sonically and spiritually. “For a long time I could write only when I was deeply moved—by either happiness or sorrow or anger or any emotion really. So the music that was born out of those states of mind was naturally layered.”
Looking ahead, Shalmali has her eyes on something big. “I have my biggest song this year releasing in June,” she reveals. “It’s one I’ve been waiting to put out, only because I really wanted it to get the right treatment. We will be shooting the music video for it in the coming week.” In addition to that, collaborations with artists like Dhruv Vishwanath, Jai Karkii, and Rutvik are also lined up.
With All Good?, Shalmali reminds us that not everything has to be polished and perfect to be powerful. Sometimes, just asking the question—“Is it really all good?”—is where the most honest art begins.
