On Christmas eve, Arijit Singh will rock Calcutta at the Royal Stag Mega Music Arijit Singh Live In Concert — The MTV India Tour produced by Wizcraft. The event is being partnered in Calcutta by Cherry Tree. Before you watch the hitmaker belt out some of his biggest hits, here are some of Arijit’s faves, as revealed by the singer to t2. And yes, you can win tickets to the concert too!

My 2017 pick... 

Safar from Jab Harry Met Sejal was one of my favourites this year. I could connect with it on a personal level.

Music I grew up listening to... 

Indian classical and contemporary Bengali songs.

My inspirations...
 
My main inspiration was the fact that I had to fulfil orders from my guruji. He wanted me to leave my home town and start working in big cities like Calcutta or Mumbai, which had more opportunities in this industry. I was following everything he wanted me to do. He passed away in 2007, but his words have always been my inspiration.

My favourite genre...

I’m still thinking about that. I’ll have to practise because I haven’t tried a couple of genres I want to try. I think I’ll need at least three-four years to get into that genre and sound real and stay true to the genre.

Musicians I admire...

In the popular music scenario, I love Kishore Kumar, Hemanta Mukherjee and Lata Mangeshkar. In more recent times I’ve loved Jagjit Singh and Sonu Nigam... they are my idols. KK, Atif (Aslam) and Papon are my current favourites. From the West… Robbie Williams, John Legend and John Mayer.

For me, Pritam is...

Working in Pritamda’s studio is amazing. There is amazing energy in the place. We have a lot of fun recording there.

A fun memory on stage…

Every show usually has a fun memory of its own, but one that particularly comes to my mind is the camaraderie I share with my sound engineer, Sunny. He is the only one I can hear in my in-ears. My very good friend Amit Sawant had come to one of my concerts and as I started singing Mohabbat barsa dena tu (from Creature), Sunny said, ‘Sing Sawant aaya hai’, (instead of Saawan aaya hai) and I actually did that! It was hilarious because Amit realised it and felt on top of the world.

Most precious award...

An award for Phir le aaya dil (from Barfi!) definitely mattered. When that song came out, I really needed the push. I was struggling at that time and I had told myself that if this song wins, then I will find more inspiration to develop my sound and music.

What I miss the most about Calcutta...

I miss home food the most! I gorge on home food when I am there.

What: Royal Stag Mega Music Arijit Singh Live In Concert — The MTV India Tour produced by Wizcraft

When: December 24, 6.30pm onwards

Where: Eco Park, New Town, Gate 1 

Buy tickets at: www.bookmyshow.com

Categories: Platinum (seated), Emerald (seated), Ruby (seated), Make it Large (standing), Diamond (standing), Gold (standing), Silver (standing)