Neha Bhasin: I want to bring folk music in the forefront
Singer Neha Bhasin talks about folk music and songs getting famous only after trending on reels.
Reels on social media have become a booming trend for tracks to gain popularity and singer Neha Bhasin feels the same. “Jutti Meri got hit after three years of its release. Back in 2020, we unfortunately couldn’t promote it enough because we went into complete lockdown right after the release. It got some attention but it was a troubled time. We moved on, but suddenly a year ago, it became a mad hit, and it all started from Instagram reels. It does help in validating but it may not necessarily be an instant hit.”
She also expresses her concerns about the current trend, stating, “My song Babul released in 2018, and it trended again on Instagram a month ago. It is very sad and stressful, I will not lie. Yeh nahi hona chahiye. I don’t want to hire influencers for this. I am an independent label, promoting my own music. I don’t want to waste ₹3 lakhs on influencers, instead I will spend that on my video. If I will spend money on such frivolous activities then how will I build an empire that I want to.”
The singer feels that a song trending on reels shouldn’t be a judgement factor. “It sets the wrong precedent. Agar famous hojaata hai toh achi baat hai, but it shouldn’t be forced or become a criteria to make a song work. Organically ho toh acha hai, it acts as an advantage for some artists, but it should not be a precedent,” the 40-year-old states.
Talking about her latest song, Din Shagna, she shares that it holds a deeply sentimental value for her. “The song is extremely special for me because it reminds me of my parents and the life I had when I was a nobody. It is just deep nostalgia. I’ve wanted to do it for so long. I have a happy memory of my dad walking me down this aisle on Din Shagna Da, so I created my own rendition, Din Shagna,” says Bhasin, adding how her rendition stands out among so many earlier versions of the track. “I was one of the few modern-day artists who did folk music. Folk koi sunn nahi Raha tha when I started doing it. It was an uphill challenge and a lonely path. Everyone was saying ki yeh chalega nahi, but I had to make my songs stand out without making them sound sad.”
“I wanted to extend the song and give it a bridge besides the chorus. It is not just a bidaai song for me. I am not trying to prove to be the best version, but this is just my perspective,” Bhasin adds.