In an exclusive chat, Sunidhi Chauhan opens up on her chemistry with Sanya Malhotra and Shreya Ghoshal, and the rise of Indian musicians in 2024.
Sunidhi Chauhan has been reinventing herself as a true pop star with every single of hers, and with her recent song Aankh, she crossed another point on her checklist. The singer not only gave vocals to the song but also featured in a full-blown dance music video with actor Sanya Malhotra, who is also a professional dancer.
This marks Sunidhi’s second jugalbandi with a female artiste after Chhaila with Shreya Ghoshal. Ask her how such collaborations helps an artiste and she reveals, “It’s simple. The mutual love and admiration for each other’s arts is what results into something like this. There are a lot of people who collaborate only for show, but in both my songs, it was genuine from both sides. Even with Shreya, we had the freedom to give our suggestions to each other as there were no insecurities. We just came together and had a blast. I missed her when the shoot was over, and it was the same from her side.”
Ask her about matching steps with Sanya and Sunidhi Chauhan says, “Sanya is one hell of a dancer, and I am a fan. Initially, I was ecstatic that she was on board as she has the perfect combination—wonderful actor, dancer and the way she looks. But after saying okay, I was a bit concerned about how it would look, as she is perfect while I will be struggling, and after seeing the choreography that concern deepened. But our choreographers Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji made sure that the steps looked nice on our bodies and the chemistry came out.”
While the 10 days of rehearsals before the shoot gave her confidence, things changed for Sunidhi as soon as the camera started rolling. She shares, “I had formed it in my mind that I will kill it, but it wasn’t that easy. I was shitting bricks in my head. I didn’t feel in my element initially but with each take, it started getting better.”
This year has been monumental for Indian music industry as the audience’s interest in live shows has increased exponentially, and Sunidhi calls it “the best feeling”. “All you want as an artiste is to have full stadiums to show as a result of your hours of hard work. We are getting the fruits of our labour, but I am still not content. I feel like I have given just maybe 30% of what I can, and people are loving it. If I give my 100%, they will go crazy, and that keeps me motivated,” she says.
