Judging a reality show is an exposure for singers: Shalmali Kholgade

Shalmali Kholgade bringing in western music with her new single, Aye.

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Shalmali Kholgade released a new single called Aye.

Singer Shalmali Kholgade believes every opportunity that gives you an exposure is a journey you should make. The singer, who recently turned a judge in a reality show, says when a singer judges a reality show, he or she can explore much more about themselves and even help others.

In an exclusive conversation with indianexpress.com, Shalmali said, “Everything is an opportunity. I’ve been given the chance to judge, why not? The fact is, if a channel feels that I will be able to lend something to the contestants, I am all up for it. I am a performer. I am a singer but for me, performance holds a lot of importance. But that doesn’t mean you will jump around to interact. A connect with an audience can be of varied kinds and you need to find that out and keep improving in it. I will help contestants to do that.”

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The singer who has hits like Balam Pichkari, Pareshaan and Baby Ko Bass to her credit, has released a single that talks about gender equality. “Aye is about gender equality. The song falls into a genre of music, called the trap. Trap is a subset of hip hop music which predominantly is practised by international musicians. Rihanna’s Empty and Beyonce’s Lemonade has a lot of trap music. Also, since the subject is so strong, to keep the essence of the song effective, this genre of music seemed the right choice for this single.”

Watch | Shalmali Kholgade’s song ‘Aye’:

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However, it is often noticed that in Indian music industry, film music is consumed extensively while the existence of independent music, at times, is not even noticed. On being asked if this system bothers Shalmali in any way, the singer said “I think that will change very soon. I don’t think making independent music in India is a risky business. People are right when they say that Bollywood music is consumed more but with the rate by which people are turning to individual music, the time isn’t far when eventually the independent music will go to films”,said the 29-year-old singer.

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She added, “Film music always sticks to script and story, it is binding in that way but the independent music is getting a difference in the existing scenario. So, if not today, in coming time we would see an era of independent music,”

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Do you think your single will be appreciated as much as your Bollywood songs have?

“My musical inspiration predominantly lies in English music artists. And with Aye, I have brought the contemporariness to our Hindi music. It is different and I dont know how my Hindi song with a western twist is going to work. But it makes me happy that I experimented and I hope my fans like it.”

Shalmali is one of the judges on the new singing show, Dil Hai Hindustani. The singer appears with the music composer Shekhar Rajiviani, filmmaker Karan Johar and rapper Baadshah. The show airs on Star Plus.

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