On one side, songs created by artists like Yo Yo Honey Singh, Badshah and others are often criticised for having sexist lyrics, glorifying the consumption of drugs and alcohol, and so on, but on the other side, Guru Randhawa, who has been taking music industry by storm — both in independent music space and in Bollywood — has consciously stayed away from all of this. The singer-songwriter and composer who became a YouTube sensation because of his songs Suit Suit, Lahore, High Rated Gabru, Patola, also secured a spot in the Billboard Top 25 on YouTube for his track Lahore.
As a part of the Bollyboom Guru Randhawa High Rated Gabru India 2.0, the Banja Tu Meri Rani singer will be performing in Pune on Sunday (June 2) at Amanora Mall, Hadapsar. The musical tour was a huge success last year. Guru says, “The idea behind doing version 2.0 was to reach out to more fans via these live concerts. It’s the best feeling in the world to perform in front of all the fans who love your music. With Slowly Slowly being such a huge hit, the tour was very important.”
This is not the first time that the singer will be performing in Pune. He feels that the city has varied audiences — both in age as well as the places that they’re from. “With so many colleges in the city and the booming IT sector, the audience in Pune is always a mixed crowd. That’s why I love to perform here. Whenever I have performed in Pune, the experience has been really great. Even the last time, I had a concert here, everything was so fabulous, and this time around we have a larger production and the experience is going to be out of this world for this show as well,” says he.
Guru recently collaborated with American rapper and singer Pitbull for the track Slowly Slowly, which has already got more than 140 million views on YouTube. Talking about his collaboration, the Made in India hitmaker says, “It feels really good especially since it’s a collaboration with Pitbull who is such a huge international singing sensation. The collaboration has given big boost to the track. Pitbull is an absolute rock star. He’s always dressed so well and is at the top of his game. I have a lot of respect for him and his work and it was really a fun experience working with him.”
Every song that the artist has created has been loved and appreciated resulting more and more Bollywood projects coming his way. He feels blessed that his hard work is paying off. “Luck is another big factor that has been on my side and I think my journey so far has been very good and I hope the future is even better,” says Guru, who despite all the success wants to be known as ‘small town boy.’
He began as an indie artist and soon made his way into Bollywood with his track Suit Suit that was revamped for the film Hindi Medium. Although he is being signed to sing for films, his first love has always been independent music. “Personally, independent music is what I prefer because it has more originality and there is more freedom to experiment. Having said that, Bollywood makes an artist famous and brings so many opportunities to the table so I love it as well,” says Guru who wishes to go on a date with Katrina Kaif and if given a chance, he wants to make the opportunity memorable. Talking of his upcoming projects, he says, “Lots of new music and collaborations are coming my way, but I can’t reveal much at this point.”
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Guru Randhawa will be performing at Oasis, Amanora Mall, Hadapsar on June 2, 6 pm onwards. Tickets are available on www.bookmyshow.com
