Singer Sukhwinder Singh: Don’t run a race with the west

Indian singers often find themselves looking to collaborate with their contemporaries in the West, with an aim to carve a niche in the international music scene

Indian singers often find themselves looking to collaborate with their contemporaries in the West, with an aim to carve a niche in the international music scene. Ask the globally acclaimed singer Sukhwinder Singh what he feels about this, and he says artistes should focus on their art, and not the outcome.

Sukhwinder Singh is the voice behind the AR Rahman’s composition Jai Ho (Raajessh Kashyap)

The 51-year-old was the voice behind the AR Rahman’s composition Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionnaire; 2008), which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and put Hindi film music on the global map. However, he feels that one shouldn’t be obsessed with competing with the West. “Yeh humari zidd mein nahin hona chahiye ki humein Hollywood se compete karna hai. As artistes, all we have to do is work hard. Arrogance, competition ya zidd nahin rakhna chahiye mann mein,” he says, adding that Hollywood doesn’t “reject” Indian music: “Hollywood films do not have songs, but there are at least seven of them with Indian songs, six of which are mine. So, it’s not like they reject it.” All one needs to do, he says, is work with “dedication”, and the rest will follow.