On January 27, Bollywood film music had an unexpected mic-drop moment. Arijit Singh, the numero uno male voice in film music for over a decade, since Aashiqui 2’s Tum hi ho in 2013, announced on his social media handles that he was quitting playback.
At 38, at the peak of his career, a superstar who remains rooted to his home in Jiaganj, Murshidabad, did something unheard of in today’s 24/7 hustle culture. He left the fast lane.
Uncannily, the lyrics of Arijit’s song Channa mereya resonate. Composed by Arijit’s frequent collaborator Pritam, and written by the wordsmith of our times, Amitabh Bhattacharya, for Karan Johar’s tender Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the heartbreak song talks of leaving and letting go. Only this time, our hearts are broken.
Achcha chalta hoon, duaon mein yaad rakhna/ Mere zikr ka zubaan pe swaad rakhna/ Dil ke sandookon mein mere achche kaam rakhna/ Chitti taaron mein bhi mera tu salaam rakhna/ Andhera tera maine le liya, mera ujla sitara tere naam kiya/ Channa mereya, mereya, beliya, o piya.
Channa mereya cuts deep, thanks in no small measure to Arijit’s unique voice. His grainy timbre — so different from his clear, boyish vocals that we heard on the reality show Fame Gurukul in 2006 that he didn’t even win — was the product of his relentless riyaaz and experimentation. No one liked his natural voice, he’d once said candidly on a podcast, he had to “break” it to make it big.
That raspy yet soft voice with a Hindustani classical base added a rare depth to film music. Arijit became a hit machine, his playback the emotional shorthand for digital natives in a rapidly changing world. Established Bollywood singers suddenly — unfairly — found themselves jobless. Countless Arijit clones surfaced on reality TV shows.
His stage shows apart, Arijit largely stayed away from all the crazy hype. No airport looks for the paparazzi, no PR-scripted dramas, no social media thirst traps. He let his songs do the talking, even pocketing two National Awards (for Binte dil and Kesariya) and a Padma Shri along the way. Binte dil (Padmaavat) for which Arijit won his first National Award, with its sensual, Middle Eastern vibe, is a masterclass in expression. If you play Agar tum saath ho (Tamasha) or Nashe si chadh gayi (Befikre) or Lal ishq (Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela) or any of his Bengali hits right after Binte dil, you’d never guess that the same vocal cords were at play.
Arijit aced the playback game, but couldn’t be boxed in it. He’d been peeking out of the box for a while now, with Oriyon, his platform for original, independent music, his non-film singles since 2020, his foray into composing for the 2021 Netflix film Pagglait, his collab with Ed Sheeran last year. Yes, films in which he sang continue to release. But the singer has come out of the box to say “Achcha chalta hoon....”
