Latest / The Bridge by Sammy Chand / September 22, 2026

Transcript

September 22, 2026 · The Bridge by Sammy Chand

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: South Asian music and culture can.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Be found around the world.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: We track down the best and present it here for
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: you on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Hi, this is Papon and you are listening to The
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Bridge with Sami Chand only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:22
  Speaker 4: Yo guys, it's your boy M.
• 0:23
  Speaker 5: Sami and you're listening to The Bridge with Sami Chand.
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: Let's go. Hello and welcome.
• 0:30
  Speaker 5: This is Dr.
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: Satinder Sattar and you're listening to The Bridge.
• 0:33
  Speaker 6: Hosted by my dear friend, Sami Chan, on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah!
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Ta-da! Hope you guys are well. Thank you very much
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: for finding The Signal here on a very special episode
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: of The Bridge. Tuesday! This is a September 22nd edition
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of The Big Show. Thank you very much to everybody
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: tuning in from around the world. And however you found
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: this signal, much appreciated. Got a special episode. We'll be
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: talking to Hanitha Bambri today. Great story. She's a singer-songwriter
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: out of Delhi, now hanging out in Mumbai where all
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the action is. And she's a poet. She's been writing
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: since she was 11. And the really cool story here
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: is that even though she came up in the independent
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: way of life, you know, doing living room shows, so
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: far sound stages out here in the U.S. at South
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: by Southwest in Austin, building an audience. She had an
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: incredible year this year where the moment pretty much found her.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: And she was brought in to write lyrics for a
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Vishal Mishra song for the brand new Toxic film. And
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: it just went from there. So we'll talk to Hanita
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: today on a Tuesday and figure out how she became
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the title song for the big Bollywood film Toxic. How
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: about that? Hanita Bambri is coming up on the big
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: program today. It's a Tuesday! And that means we'll be
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: joined by Nish, as we do every week here on
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: The Big Program. We'll be joined by Doita Dasgupta. We'll
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: be joined by Dr.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: Roy.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And a lot to go over on this show for sure.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: A lot to talk about. Hanitha's story is pretty fascinating.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: And what I think I'm going to talk to her
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: about today is Just get the process from her. I
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: want to go back to those moments when she found
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: out about what she was about to do. And the
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: really interesting story here about Haneta and this specific song, Toxic,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: is that it kind of happened. She went in there
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: just to write songs. And she ended up being the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: lead vocalist on the song. Pretty crazy. Hope you enjoy
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the show. Welcome to the bridge.
• 3:09
  Speaker 7: KAL KUCH AUR THA AAJ BEE KUCH AUR HAI KAL
• 3:14
  Speaker 7: BAYABAZ THA AAJ KYO YEN SHOOR HAI NAA HUM JAANI
• 3:18
  Speaker 7: KON HAI NAA HUM JAANI NAA WO JAANI KON HAI
• 3:25
  Speaker 7: KAL TO ABAD THA AAJ KYO BAYNOOR HAI KAL WO
• 3:29
  Speaker 7: AZAD THA AAJ KYO MAJBOOR HAI NAA HUM JAANI KON
• 3:34
  Speaker 7: HAI NAA HUM JAANI NAA WO JAANI KON HAI This world.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Is confused This world is confused.
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: Yesterday everything was close, today everything is far away. Yesterday
• 4:19
  Speaker 7: everything was special.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Today everything is useless. Neither we know who.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: It is, nor he knows who it is. Curtain Blue
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: is the artist. The song is called Yeah, Dunia. We've
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: been playing this one here over the last couple of weeks.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Currently our number one song on this show. And another
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: song that we included over the weekend and was played yesterday,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: in fact, is Hania Amir.
• 5:16
  Speaker 8: This beautiful flower is saying, ask me where did you
• 5:19
  Speaker 8: get the intoxication? They say, you have kept it for
• 5:23
  Speaker 8: a long time.
• 5:24
  Speaker 9: We laugh and you follow us, we shout.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: And mess with you every day.
• 5:28
  Speaker 8: How many times have we stayed in our dreams?
• 5:35
  Speaker 10: What should I do?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: I don't want to go anywhere without you.
• 5:50
  Speaker 10: Why don't you write about the environment?
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: If you don't want to go, then go to India.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: Glory to me.
• 5:59
  Speaker 11: I keep my friends and my friends in my house.
• 6:02
  Speaker 11: I don't want to give them tension. I don't want
• 6:05
  Speaker 11: to give them tension. I don't want to give them tension.
• 6:09
  Speaker 8: I don't want to give them tension. I don't want
• 6:15
  Speaker 8: to give them tension. I don't know what you're up to,
• 6:19
  Speaker 8: up to, up to So beautiful, that's what they say
• 6:21
  Speaker 8: Ask me, where did you get the drugs? They say, man,
• 6:23
  Speaker 8: you've got big feet We laugh, you follow us, we
• 6:26
  Speaker 8: shout at each other every day How many times.
• 6:28
  Speaker 12: Have we stayed in the same place?
• 6:30
  Speaker 8: Half of our lives are saved, and the rest are
• 6:32
  Speaker 8: very deep I'm with God, and the rest is with everyone,
• 6:35
  Speaker 8: everyone Yes, Nia, my dear Don't worry about.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: It I understand, don't worry about it It's a Hanata
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: Bambri episode today. We'll be talking to the star of
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: the song, Toxic.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: About the moment she found out she was doing the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: big song. It's going to be good. Here's Priya Raghu.
• 7:42
  Speaker 9: This don't, don't, don't feel so sure Baby, you make
• 7:47
  Speaker 9: my heart pass for days Won't you come down and
• 7:52
  Speaker 9: say One million stars have been raised Just to get
• 7:58
  Speaker 9: close to you Finally I found you, mi amor, so
• 8:03
  Speaker 9: enticing Finally I found a love with swagger that's so
• 8:07
  Speaker 9: high-fingered Finally I found a pure soul so enlightening.
• 8:45
  Speaker 13: For so long, I didn't know What I had been
• 8:52
  Speaker 13: looking for Baby, knock it at my door This.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Doom, doom, doom is so.
• 9:00
  Speaker 9: Short I won't let you go That trouble is in
• 9:03
  Speaker 9: stone Even when we are gone One day we'll know
• 9:07
  Speaker 9: So can we be free For the world to see
• 9:11
  Speaker 9: Even when we're gone This don't wait Finally, baby You
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  Speaker 9: make my heart beat.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: 180 Won't you.
• 9:24
  Speaker 9: Come down and save me One thing is cause I've
• 9:30
  Speaker 9: been waiting Just to get close to you Close to.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: You One of my favorite artists out there. Priya Raghu, everybody.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: The song called Finally. And as I told you, you
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: guys last week, I've been waiting for this one. I've
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: been seeing all kinds of teasers out there on social media.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Finally found it on Apple Music this past weekend and
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: have been including it into our show. Now let's bring
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: in Dr. Roy to the program.
• 10:14
  Speaker 14: Hey guys, this is Dr.
• 10:15
  Speaker 15: Roy with today's Word on the Avenue.
• 10:17
  Speaker 14: In film and TV news, Music composer-producer Shashwat Sajde from
• 10:21
  Speaker 14: Dharanda has unveiled Future Machine, a new audiovisual live touring
• 10:26
  Speaker 14: experience valued at a reported $ 50 million, blending theatrical storytelling
• 10:32
  Speaker 14: with the energy of a global EDM festival. The two-time
• 10:35
  Speaker 14: National Award winner plans to bring his celebrated scores to
• 10:38
  Speaker 14: the stage with more than 100 musicians, orchestra players, and
• 10:42
  Speaker 14: choir performers, making his major debut in the live music arena.
• 10:47
  Speaker 15: In media news, at.
• 10:49
  Speaker 14: Just 16 years old, British Indian Pokemon player Vikram Tiagarajan
• 10:53
  Speaker 14: has made history by becoming the first British winner of
• 10:56
  Speaker 14: the video game division at the Pokemon World Championships since 2015.
• 11:01
  Speaker 14: The landmark victory came in San Francisco at an event
• 11:04
  Speaker 14: watched by more than 200,000 fans, marking an impressive achievement
• 11:08
  Speaker 14: for the young gaming talent. In event news, Indian model
• 11:13
  Speaker 14: Hema Gill is sharing an inspiring story of perseverance, recalling
• 11:17
  Speaker 14: how she faced rejection and bias over her skin tone
• 11:21
  Speaker 14: while pursuing her childhood dream of modeling. With her family's
• 11:24
  Speaker 14: unwavering support, she kept training, creating content, and pushing forward.
• 11:28
  Speaker 14: And today, with brands listening and more than 100,000 people watching,
• 11:33
  Speaker 14: she's turning the very difference she was once judged for
• 11:36
  Speaker 14: into her strength. That's it for today's Word on the Avenue.
• 11:40
  Speaker 14: Until next time.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Dr.
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: Roy.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much for that. We'll be joined here
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: very shortly by Nish Riaz. We'll give you a preview
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: of his show coming up tonight at 5 p.m. And
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: then we'll also be joined here very shortly by Hanita Bambri.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to that conversation. This is the latest
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: from Dr. Satinder Sertaj. He just dropped this music video
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: this weekend as well. A brand new collaboration with our
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: folks over there at T-Series. This song right here is
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  Speaker 1: called Guzarish.
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  Speaker 5: Guzarish.
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: Rooha Ko Nazro Se Roshan Kal Diya Mehrbani Shukriya Taslim.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Hai Adab Hai.
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: Faaab gaahon se ho chukki hai rawaangi Abhi baadalon pe
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: chhaayegi diwaaangi Faaab gaahon se ho chukki hai rawaangi Abhi
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: baadalon pe chhaayegi diwaaangi Ame chithiyaan mili hain mahatab se
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: Chithiyaan mili hain mahatab se Koi bach nahi paayega shabaab
• 13:06
  Speaker 6: se Aaj aaye hain huzoor be naqab se Guzaashon pe
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  Speaker 6: maur ki jiye.
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  Speaker 16: Thank you.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 13:47
  Speaker 10: Music Music Music Music Music Music.
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  Speaker 6: The intoxication in the eyes is more than the alcohol
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  Speaker 6: The intoxication in the eyes is more than the alcohol
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: And the wonder of the miracle is beyond answer I
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: have heard that there are rumors from Punjab Please pay
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: more attention to.
• 14:28
  Speaker 9: The reports Please pay more attention.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: To the reports.
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: We have received letters from Mahatab. No one will be
• 14:39
  Speaker 6: able to escape from Shabab. Today has come Huzoor with
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: no mask. Focus on the requests. Focus on the requests.
• 15:06
  Speaker 6: Chalo seekh le ishaaron ka muhawara Hai nigaahon ka hi
• 15:10
  Speaker 6: yeh toh saara majra Kya dilawri dikhayenge misal doh Log
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: puchte hain aake toh bata zara Aji se jaamiya ishq
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: se talim ho Wo jo shorog ulf se door ho
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: saleem ho Wohi ulfatein sikhayenge hisaab se Wohi ulfatein sikhayenge
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: hisaab se Sartaj kya padh hoge yeh kitab se Jazbaat
• 15:36
  Speaker 6: hain dilon me yeh betab se Guzarishon pe Guzarishon pe
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: Hame jithiyan mili hain mahatab se Hame jithiyan mili hain
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: mahatab se Koi bach nahi paega shabab se Aaj aayi
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: hain Huzoor be nakab se.
• 15:58
  Speaker 9: Guzarishon pe gaur ki yeh Gazarishon.
• 16:02
  Speaker 12: Pe gaur ki yeh.
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: Baat hui hai baharon ki gulab se Waagfiyate bhi hogayin
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: shadab se Wo to maangte hain shokh ya janaab se
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: Gazarishon pe gaur ki yeh Gazarishon pe gaur.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Ki Beautiful music. Right on brand for Satinder Shataj. The
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: song is called Guzaresh. And of course, as you guys know,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: one of our favorite artists out there in the business.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Now into this show, let's invite Nish Riaz, who's the
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: host of the show called The Garage Mahal. And it
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: drops tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, folks. And
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: by the way, if you go to Spotify and type
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: in Garage Mahal, they see drops. You can see Nish's
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: weekly playlist right there. And you can kind of keep
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: track with all the songs that Niche is playing on
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: his show, so make sure you go peep that. Now
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: let's invite Niche to the show. What's up, Niche?
• 17:17
  Speaker 17: Yo, what is up, Ruckus Avenue Radio fam? This is
• 17:20
  Speaker 17: your boy Niche, and I'm back with another episode of
• 17:23
  Speaker 17: The Garage Mahal this Tuesday at 8 p.m.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: EST.
• 17:27
  Speaker 17: If you don't know what The Garage Mahal is all about, well,
• 17:30
  Speaker 17: it's me putting you on to the best South Asian
• 17:32
  Speaker 17: music from all around the world. So you can confidently say, oh,
• 17:36
  Speaker 17: I was listening to them before it was cool. So
• 17:38
  Speaker 17: if you want to be that friend in your group,
• 17:40
  Speaker 17: tune into my show, The Garage Mahal, every Tuesday at
• 17:43
  Speaker 17: 8 p.m. EST, exclusively on Ruckus Avenue Radio. Back to you, Sammy.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Nish. Thanks for stopping by here.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Everybody go check out Nish's show. It's called The Garage Mahal,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: 8 p.m.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: Tonight.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: And go check out his playlist, one of my favorites
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: on the air here. All right, folks, let's get ready
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: for Hanata right after this song.
• 18:38
  Speaker 6: Dekh ke tujh ko aayna chamke Chaya.
• 18:45
  Speaker 18: Aankhon mein teri kaisa Ye khumar hai tauba, tauba Bandhe zulfi.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Jaana na mujhe se You told me. Ja na na
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: aa ja, mujh se.
• 21:06
  Speaker 18: Mil ja na. Ja na na aa ja, mujh se
• 21:11
  Speaker 18: mil ja na. Pyaar ke lamhe toh kismat mein hai
• 21:16
  Speaker 18: toh chaar hi.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Tauba, tauba. Bandhe zulfoon.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to introduce
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: into the show Miss Hanita Bambri. How are you, Hanita?
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: I'm good.
• 21:45
  Speaker 12: How are you, Tommy?
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Good. You know, look at you dealing with the Americans again.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I love it. I wanted to begin by first congratulating
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: you on what has been probably a meteoric last year
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: or so of your career. Congratulations.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much. I've been completely surreal and it's
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: still sinking in, but I'm so grateful for every moment.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Ah, that's beautiful. Well, you're in a very interesting space
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: at the right time. And I wanted to start in
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: a very kind of 30,000 foot up view of what
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: you do. And my first question to you is from
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: your perspective, how is Indian pop music doing?
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: Oh, Indian pop music is here to take on the world.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: I genuinely feel that because there is so much talent
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: here and I'm talking like across different genres. Um, There's
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: so much stuff happening in hip-hop, as we know, with Hanumankind,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: you know, breaking out of India and making such a
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: global impact. So many other hip-hop and rap artists as well.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: There are so many talented jazz musicians operating out of Ahmedabad.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: So much.
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: Great stuff is happening even in fusion space where we're
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: combining the sound of a guitar with the Indian classical
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: vocals and having a really cool house beat on top
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: of it.
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: So there's very interesting stuff.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: Happening in Indian pop music and I generally feel like
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: I-pop is the next thing to watch out for.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: I agree with you. Especially that Hindi pop genre is big.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: The Indian pop genre overall is really growing and something
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: to keep an eye on. And I always joke to people,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: everybody's an independent artist until they become big and then
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden people call them a pop star, right?
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: But my question to you is, well, you've told us
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: a little bit about what it's like in the big
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: world of Indian pop music. How's the independent scene over
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: there doing? The one that you came from.
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: Um, I feel like the independent space is slowly sort
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: of like, uh, making its mark.
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 24:06
  Speaker 4: Um, especially because, um, in India, the major source of
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: consumption of music comes from Bollywood, you know, like anything
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: that is not Bollywood is indeed perceived as indie basically. Yeah.
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: Irrespective of whether or not you're backed by a label
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: or not, you're indie. So the bracket of, um, What
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: it means to be independent is really big. So it's
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: all engulfing. So talking about like certain sections, I feel like,
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: you know, there is, of course, this, you know, pressure
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: of doing everything on your own when you do not
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: have the uh financial backings of the label or you
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: do not have uh you know like a big team
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: that you're working with or like having a management because
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: the management says that you know we're going to manage
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: you if you're already big and once you're already big
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: then they're sort of like what can we actually do
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: for you now so you might just continue to manage.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Yourself funny situation it really is yeah.
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like, you know, like you need an education
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: to get a job and you need work.
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: Experience to get an education.
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: So, like, it kind of feels like that when you're
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: an independent artist here. But at the same time, I
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: feel like the system has become so much more democratic
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: ever since, you know, with the whole... ecosystem of Instagram, Spotify,
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: playlisting and everything where I feel like, you know, if
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: you're really, really putting yourself out there and if you're
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: really sort of like connecting with your audience or your
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: niche and your community and if they sort of like,
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: you know, like what you're doing, eventually I feel like,
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: you know, the labels or the biggies of the industry
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: do take notice.
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: Yeah. They do sort of like, okay, what's this.
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: You know, song that's popping off or what, who's this
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: artist that everyone's talking about. And I feel like that
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: sort of like creates a better situation for us.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: Because, you know, earlier it used to be like, Hey,
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: please listen to my music. And all the A &
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: Rs are sitting around the table and then they tell you, Oh,
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: this will work or.
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: This will not work.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: But here the audience sort of like advocates things.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: You know, we love this artist.
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: And then they're like, you know, we want you. Everyone's
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: sort of fighting, throwing papers.
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: And we're like, we want you.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Come on board with us.
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean, it's both exciting and challenging at.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: The same time.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I think one of the things that you did to
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: really separate yourself was you were able to pick up
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: a pen and And be able to translate your thoughts
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: onto paper. And you do it so well. And to me,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: that representation of you being a writer out there and
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: you being a singer out there, to me, represents this generation,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: this brand new generation of the Indian people. music industry overall.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: It's this artist who definitely can sing, but they bring
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: an entire culture and an identity with them. But if
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: they can write it down, and if they can write
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the lyrics, then they can potentially outlast the industry and
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: really be successful. You, however, have done it with a
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: And as I said to you, that's the future. Do
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: you recommend artists that you meet these days to write
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: lyrics and to really become active in that space?
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: I would say yes and no.
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: It depends on what stage of their career they're at.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Interesting.
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: I feel like everyone needs to have a certain level
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: of self-awareness in the sense that this is sort of
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: like like my forte. This is like my strength and
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: this is my weakness. And I feel like there are
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: so many great songwriters who are not really, you know,
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: that good as singers. I mean, if they give their
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: song to a really good singer, the song will completely fly.
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: And similarly, I feel like there are such good singers
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: who cannot... you know, they're not very authentic in their
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: writing and that's why the audience sort of, you know,
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: disconnects with their work. Even though they're exceptional as singers,
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: when they sing their covers, their songs sort of like,
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: you know, blow it up. Their covers blow up on Instagram.
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: But the moment they put out an independent song to release,
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: the audience immediately, you know, just disconnects from what they are...
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: singing because they're just doing it you know just to
• 28:30
  Speaker 4: be like okay I'm not just going to be a
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: cover artist I want to be like you know an
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: independent artist I want to be like a pop star
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: who's making their own music and I want to perform
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: shows in my name and not just you know like
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: do like different covers but then I feel like that
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: self-awareness being like hey like you know I'm a really
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: good singer but I'm not that good a songwriter.
• 28:52
  Speaker 5: I'll give this a shot.
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: I'll take like workshops. I'll work on this.
• 28:56
  Speaker 5: But I will also work alongside other songwriters.
• 28:59
  Speaker 4: You know, let me just do a workshop with someone
• 29:02
  Speaker 4: where I have like two, three songwriters in the room.
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: And I write with them, get an.
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: Idea of, you know, how this thing works. And similarly,
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: like some songwriters need to become self-aware that, you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: they're not that good as performers or as singers. And
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: be like, you know, hey, my sense is in this.
• 29:20
  Speaker 5: Not in this.
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: Space it's in it's in you know making great art
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: and making great music and great songs and let me
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: just do that and I feel like that sort of
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: thing where this collaborative nature of music and art which
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: is very much prevalent you know in the states is
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: sort of missing here. People feel like are sort of
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: like hesitant to collaborate.
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: Also, the publishing aspect of.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: Music, you know, isn't very lucrative here compared to, you know.
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: How it's in the States.
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: So because of those reasons, I feel like, you know,
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: there aren't really just songwriters in the space. But yeah,
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: I mean, I feel like, yeah, I mean, it definitely
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: gives you a plus if you can write and sing
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: your own songs. But again, just be like, you know, hey,
• 30:13
  Speaker 4: this is more working out for me, you know, just
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: being like stepping away from your work for a little
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: bit and having that sort of like healthy detachment, I
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: would say. And often I feel like I do that
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: for myself too. Like sometimes when I'm stuck on a
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: song and I'm like, you know, Like, hey, I cannot
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: sing this part that I've written. Let me get like
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: a singer on board who can sing this part because
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: I cannot do it for the life of me. But
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: the part I've written compositionally is so beautiful. But because
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: I don't have like an Indian classical training, I will
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: mess it up and it won't sound authentic. So I
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: bring a person on board that, hey, why don't you
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: sing this part? And, you know, often that creates magic
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: and collaboration can do that for you.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: It really can. A lot of growth can come from there.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: And then when you work with other artists, you get
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: a sense to become a little bit more self-aware. You know,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: there's a little bit of a lesson there, in a sense.
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and with self-awareness comes growth, too. You know, I mean,
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: you become better at it.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about your growth, Hanita. You know, you
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: were in Ahmedabad working away. You called it a two-year
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: sentence in your life where you were doing the corporate thing.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: And then you end up, you know, being on BBC,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: on BBC calling you one of the big up-and-coming India acts.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: And then you're opening for artists like the Raghu Dixit Project.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: And then, you know, so many years later, here you are.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas, performing at South by Southwest. What a
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: growth journey. And you spent a little bit of time
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: here in the US. And I think that that really,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I get that that really made an impression on you
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: and the work that you did. Tell us about your
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: time here in the US. And what did it teach
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: you about your music career?
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: Well, I would say that someone's done their research.
• 32:07
  Speaker 5: I'm impressed. And I would say my time in the U.S.
• 32:17
  Speaker 5: was amazing.
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: I feel like I spent the majority of my time
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: in Austin. artists I was performing at South by Southwest
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: and I feel like the city just breathes music you
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: know every sort of like you know little cafe you
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: enter or like a bar you enter there's like people
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: who are just here to support acts you know music
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: that they haven't even heard but everyone's just you know
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: in it you know the audience is something else they
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: actually appreciate music and art and they don't just look
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: at music as entertainment they actually look at it as
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: a way of life which is you know so inspiring
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: because when you're.
• 32:59
  Speaker 5: In especially you know when I was performing in front.
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: Of that audience in Austin it was like you know
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: these strangers who don't even know me don't even know
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: anything about me haven't heard my music they're sitting here
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: they I have like 100% of their attention no one
• 33:16
  Speaker 4: is like sort of like whispering amongst each other you
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: know they're totally present in the moment and they want
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: to just absorb my music and I feel like That
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: sort of, you know, encouragement and understanding and, like, getting
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: that sort of response from the audience, in itself, I
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: feel like that is, you know, very inspiring for an artist.
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: And I spent, I think, like, a good one, one
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: and a half months in the US. And I think, like,
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: I wrote a bunch of new music also at that time.
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: It's been a few years since South Byte happened. But
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: I remember, like, I was traveling with my guitar.
• 33:55
  Speaker 5: So, you know, I would, like.
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: I remember I was in Long Beach and I was
• 33:59
  Speaker 4: trying to do the paddle board thing and I was
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: failing at it and then I just sat by the
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: beach after landing face down in the water being like, hey,
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: let me just write about how I felt when I
• 34:13
  Speaker 4: was almost drowning and comparing that to a difficult moment
• 34:19
  Speaker 4: in my life and then making all the metaphors and
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: making it real.
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, it was a very, you know, interesting time
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: that I spent. And I really enjoyed that. I hope
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: I get to visit again soon.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Hopefully.
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: And perform.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Got to get you back here again. Let's
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: talk about your work. And before we get into Toxic
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: and the work that you've done there, I wanted to
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: talk about, again, from a very from a perspective of
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: you doing these different things, you've done music that ended
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: up on the big OTT show. And now you've done a,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: a song that's in a big blockbuster movie, places and
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: achievements that people work a lifetime for. But I feel
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: that these two things are just the beginning for you.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: And my question to you is what is this experience
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: of these two things taught you about your career? They're
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: not easy to do. You know, it's one thing to
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: be given the opportunity to be in these things. And then,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: It's another thing to come through with something successful. But
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: what did these moments teach you? I'm sure somewhere in there,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: they were validating for all the different choices you've made.
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: I think one thing that it taught me is that
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: success is just opportunity that needs preparation. And an opportunity
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: is something that, you know, most people sort of are
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: just waiting for it. And they're waiting for it in
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: a way that they don't prepare themselves for it. And
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: I feel like it's as hard as it is and
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: as discouraging as it is when you're sort of struggling,
• 36:01
  Speaker 4: when you're trying to make a mark, but it's not happening.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: you're putting out music, but, you know, you're not getting
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: more than 10 streams and you're making posts and it's,
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: you know, no one's sort of liking it or interacting
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: with it. And you watch your, you know, followers stay
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: stuck at that, like, number or even fall down. And
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: you're just staring at that screen and thinking that, you know,
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: when is it going to be my time? You know,
• 36:27
  Speaker 4: when am I going to get flowers? And it's very
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: easy at that moment to, you know, curse the world
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: become resentful become bitter become envious of people who are
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: doing well that hey people with half the talent are
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: doing so much better than I am and let me
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: hate on them and everything but I feel like I
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: think that's a very it's a very downward spiral if
• 36:54
  Speaker 4: you reach that point and I know that so many
• 36:56
  Speaker 4: artists do go through and it's very very hard and
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: it's understandable if someone does feel that way But at
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: the same time, if you sort of like zone in that,
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: you know, this is my journey. And it's not a race.
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: Art is so subjective. And I feel like a talent
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: for good music eventually finds its audience. And all you
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: can do is prepare for it. You know, when this
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: moment comes, when I am... I feel like it also
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: comes with the feeling of that feeling safe to be
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: seen and safe to be perceived. A lot of times,
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: a lot of times, you know, we want to be famous.
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: We want to be heard. We want to have an audience.
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: But we're so afraid of actually being seen, you know,
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: having like hundreds of different thoughts in our heads. If
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: you ask, you know, an artist who's always dreamt of
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: becoming famous and, you know, the biggest artist in India,
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: if you ask like any one of them, hey, what
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: if I made you, like, snap the finger and made
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: you famous tomorrow to a level where, you know, like,
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: you can't walk down the street, you know, without being
• 37:58
  Speaker 4: mauled by the public. Most of them would get scared, like, hey,
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: I'm not ready to be seen like that. So I
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: think that feeling, that cultivating that feeling, constantly being in
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: that zone that, you know, whenever the time comes, I'm
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: going to be ready for it and preparing for it.
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: And when that thing happens, you know, that one moment
• 38:21
  Speaker 4: and it can actually just completely change the trajectory of
• 38:24
  Speaker 4: your career if you're actually paying attention. And when that
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: moment happens, you actually can capitalize on it. You can
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: actually make a difference. You can actually achieve all your
• 38:36
  Speaker 4: dreams because you didn't go into this completely blind, that,
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: you know, what am I going to do with this success?
• 38:41
  Speaker 4: And that's when I feel like a lot of people
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: end up being one-hit wonders. You know, they just, they
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: come in, they have massive success, they don't know how
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: to handle it, and then they disappear. And someone who's
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: in it for the right reasons, where someone's like, hey,
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: I want to make an impact with my music. I
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: want to leave, you know, people with, you know, the
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: kind of emotion I felt when I listened to music
• 39:04
  Speaker 4: when I was a kid. When you're really, really honed
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: in on your purpose, every opportunity feels like a blessing
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: instead of something that is earned.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: That's correct.
• 39:15
  Speaker 4: Something that you've struggled for. It just feels like a blessing.
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: Just like music itself is a blessing, I feel.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That was so beautiful. Thank you, Anita. You know,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: every bit of what you said was true.
• 39:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: I could not underline it even more there's something that
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: i keep hearing from you which has to do with
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: the moment has to do with you know the moment
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: meaning preparation um I'm sure this following moment was one
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: of those moments where you get a phone call from
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Vishal Mishra's team, and they say to you, can you
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: help us write a song? And they say, there's a film,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: and it's pretty much like an adult fairy tale story,
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: but we need you to write something in English. and
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: you are put in this very specific kind of request,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: let's just call it, and you come through, and you
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: create this moment for yourself that ends up becoming even
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: larger than it was first described to you. Tell us
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: about this song. Tell us about your involvement in Toxic.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Tell us about this specific moment of how you worked
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: with Vishal Mishra. What a moment!
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 40:35
  Speaker 5: I still can't believe it, honestly.
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: You know, three years back, I moved to Mumbai. And
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: right before I was about to move, you know, when
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: I was thinking or deliberating that I want to move
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: to this city, I'd received a phone call for another
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: project from Mishal Mishra's studio. And they told me that,
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: you know, we need you here today. And I said that, okay,
• 40:56
  Speaker 4: I can come in, but I need like six, seven
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: hours or I can come in tomorrow. And they're like, no,
• 41:00
  Speaker 4: that's a very tight deadline and the music's needs to
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: go out today uh so are you are you going
• 41:06
  Speaker 4: to be here or not and i said i'm so
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: sorry i can't come but let me just try let
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: me figure out a flight and i missed out on
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: that opportunity because i was in in that city and
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: i remember feeling like oh it's just escaped me and
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: you know it's just never going to happen now because
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: it was like for the longest time i've been a
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: big fan of his music and then you're like oh
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: i was just not at the right place at the
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: right time and now it's lost forever and I remember
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: like moving here and making like my little like goal
• 41:40
  Speaker 4: or like vision board and I wrote like I will
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: work with Vishal Mishra and I wrote that and I
• 41:47
  Speaker 4: put that you know picture.
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: And I still have that.
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: Diary with me and I and I don't know I
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: just wrote it and I left it you know I
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: didn't think about it too much I was like you
• 41:58
  Speaker 4: know someday it's gonna.
• 41:59
  Speaker 5: Happen you know It was, it's going to, it's going
• 42:01
  Speaker 5: to happen.
• 42:02
  Speaker 4: And I just let that sort of rest and marinate.
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: And then I was like, just making my independent music,
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: working on different things and putting out my album.
• 42:15
  Speaker 5: And it has been a while, you know, since I've
• 42:17
  Speaker 5: released English music. Right.
• 42:19
  Speaker 4: Um, my in like last time like my debut album
• 42:23
  Speaker 4: was entirely in hindi and i've been pretty much doing
• 42:27
  Speaker 4: hindi music and uh when that phone call came in
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: that you know we want someone who can write uh
• 42:33
  Speaker 4: you know english lyrics my first question was hey like
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: are you also looking for someone to sing it and
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: you're like no we just we just want someone to
• 42:41
  Speaker 4: write lyrics in english and uh like someone like recommended you,
• 42:47
  Speaker 4: one of my producers that I'd worked with, they were funny.
• 42:49
  Speaker 4: He recommended my name. Shout out to all the friends
• 42:52
  Speaker 4: who take your name.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Shout out to them.
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 42:56
  Speaker 5: And safe as.
• 42:57
  Speaker 4: You're not around uh who are like rooting for you
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: and uh and when when I sort of reached the
• 43:03
  Speaker 4: studio the only thing that was in my mind was
• 43:06
  Speaker 4: that hey I got here you know like what I
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: wrote in my diary that day when what I put
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: on my vision board it happened and.
• 43:15
  Speaker 5: In that moment I was like this is your zone.
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: You've been writing since you were 11 years old even
• 43:20
  Speaker 4: before you could sing You've been doing this. You got it.
• 43:24
  Speaker 4: And I got in there. I listened to the Kannada
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: version of the track. And... They said, I said, like,
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: can you help me understand the situation? And they gave
• 43:37
  Speaker 4: me a brief that, you know, this is what it's about.
• 43:41
  Speaker 4: And we want you to sort of, like, this is
• 43:44
  Speaker 4: the situation. And this is all the information that we
• 43:47
  Speaker 4: can give you. Because, you know, all the plot and
• 43:51
  Speaker 4: the minor details are very, very confidential. But this is
• 43:54
  Speaker 4: all that we can tell you. And this is the
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: feeling that we want you to describe. And I was like, okay.
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: And they're like, okay, but this is what... we want
• 44:02
  Speaker 4: you to communicate. And initially I was thinking that, okay,
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: maybe are we looking for a literal translation?
• 44:11
  Speaker 9: What are these for?
• 44:12
  Speaker 4: And I just flat out said to his team that, hey,
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: I don't think, you know, like an English translation would
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: capture this emotion. You know, is it okay if I
• 44:24
  Speaker 4: write something completely, you know, that something that's completely.
• 44:29
  Speaker 5: Not in the other languages?
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: And they're like, yeah, sure, let us just speak to him.
• 44:35
  Speaker 4: And then Vishal Mishra came into the studio and I
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: was like, damn.
• 44:39
  Speaker 5: I was like completely awestruck by him. I was like, wow.
• 44:42
  Speaker 5: And he was like, hi, that's so nice.
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: To meet you.
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: And I was like, you know my name?
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: And he's like, of course I know your name. That's
• 44:49
  Speaker 4: why I've called you. And then he was like, yeah, sure. Like,
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: you know, right. whatever you want to write. But this
• 44:57
  Speaker 4: is the situation. This is what, you know, the scene
• 45:01
  Speaker 4: of the movie is going to be. They showed me
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: a little bit of the visuals also of that moment.
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: And they said that, you know, write, you know, just
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: take your time and write. Of course, like I've written
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: a lot of songs in very, very short durations. I've
• 45:15
  Speaker 4: written songs in less than five minutes sometimes, you know,
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: like just writing in a flow and the entire song
• 45:21
  Speaker 4: gets completed. But it's very, very different when you're in
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: a high pressure situation, when you're like, everything is resting
• 45:29
  Speaker 4: on this moment and you're not in your, you know,
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: like in your comfort music room, you're, you know, in
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: a studio and you have to write everything right there
• 45:39
  Speaker 4: with people around you. And, and, um, I was just like, okay,
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: let me, let me just write the way that I
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: want to write, you know, let me just completely block out, uh,
• 45:53
  Speaker 4: you know, whatever it means to write a pop song.
• 45:57
  Speaker 4: Let me write something which doesn't have a lot of repetition,
• 46:04
  Speaker 4: you know, has a lot of lyrical context, has storytelling.
• 46:08
  Speaker 4: Let me just give this a shot. If they don't
• 46:10
  Speaker 4: like it, I'm just going to write it again.
• 46:12
  Speaker 5: What are they.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: Going to say? We don't like it. Okay, no problem.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Give me five minutes. Right.
• 46:19
  Speaker 4: And I'd already written, you know, backup lyrics because I
• 46:22
  Speaker 4: have like, I'm a Virgo.
• 46:23
  Speaker 5: I'm like, I've.
• 46:25
  Speaker 4: Written different versions of the lyrics. like backup lyrics like
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: in case they don't like these lyrics while i was
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: still working on the main sort of like first draft
• 46:39
  Speaker 4: i was like okay they don't like this line i'm
• 46:41
  Speaker 4: gonna replace it with this line you know i was
• 46:42
  Speaker 4: already thinking of those things um and i remember then
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: i was like you know getting ready for the presentation
• 46:49
  Speaker 4: and uh while i was presenting the lyrics of the
• 46:53
  Speaker 4: of the song to vishal mishra uh i started sort
• 46:56
  Speaker 4: of like humming it along but you know okay like
• 46:59
  Speaker 4: And as I was humming it, he was like, hey.
• 47:02
  Speaker 5: You've got a great voice.
• 47:03
  Speaker 4: And I was like, yeah, I also sing. And he
• 47:07
  Speaker 4: was like, do you want to record this song? And
• 47:10
  Speaker 4: I was like, no, like, of course. Like, what do
• 47:12
  Speaker 4: you mean do you want to record this song? He's like, okay.
• 47:15
  Speaker 4: Let me just call Geetu. And he called Geetu Mohandas.
• 47:18
  Speaker 4: And then he put her on speaker. And he was like,
• 47:21
  Speaker 4: you know, we have in front of us like Hanita.
• 47:23
  Speaker 4: And she's just written these beautiful like English lyrics. She's
• 47:26
  Speaker 4: going to also sing them out to you. Just, you know,
• 47:29
  Speaker 4: just tell me what you think. And then he's like, okay, sing.
• 47:32
  Speaker 4: And Geetu Mohandas was like literally on the phone on speaker.
• 47:36
  Speaker 4: And I started just singing the entire track when I
• 47:38
  Speaker 4: was like 100% even sure about the composition.
• 47:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 47:41
  Speaker 4: In my head, I'm not singing this song, right? So
• 47:43
  Speaker 4: I'm only focusing on the beat and getting right, you know,
• 47:46
  Speaker 4: all the syllables, number of syllables and everything. And I'm
• 47:49
  Speaker 4: just like, okay, this is so, so I just sang
• 47:53
  Speaker 4: that song. And then he's like, okay, Geetha, what do
• 47:55
  Speaker 4: you think? Do you like her voice? And he's like, yeah,
• 47:57
  Speaker 4: she sounds great. It's like, okay, she's going to be
• 47:59
  Speaker 4: recording the song now. And he's like, okay, just send
• 48:02
  Speaker 4: me the lyrics once because I wasn't able to get
• 48:04
  Speaker 4: all the words right. you know, correctly, um, down on
• 48:08
  Speaker 4: the phone. So I just want to look at the
• 48:10
  Speaker 4: lyrics one. So then I sent across the lyrics and, uh,
• 48:15
  Speaker 4: my first draft was approved. I didn't have to use
• 48:17
  Speaker 4: the backup.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: How about that?
• 48:21
  Speaker 4: They didn't even change one word I was like you
• 48:23
  Speaker 4: know this is not the you know commercial industry that
• 48:27
  Speaker 4: I'm used to people you know take make you write
• 48:29
  Speaker 4: options and options and they make you sing like 10,000
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: times just because they want so many options and then
• 48:35
  Speaker 4: they're like oh okay this this is great this is
• 48:39
  Speaker 4: approved I'm like oh really wow and we're like okay let's.
• 48:43
  Speaker 5: Just prepare for you know recording now and then I
• 48:47
  Speaker 5: think it.
• 48:47
  Speaker 4: Was too, you know, it was too fast, you know?
• 48:51
  Speaker 4: It's like one day I was just, you know, chilling
• 48:54
  Speaker 4: around driving in my car and then suddenly I get
• 48:56
  Speaker 4: a phone call and then, you know, in the next
• 48:58
  Speaker 4: 24 hours, the entire course of my life just changed,
• 49:01
  Speaker 4: you know?
• 49:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And I'm singing.
• 49:04
  Speaker 4: The title track of Toxic, which.
• 49:06
  Speaker 16: I didn't even know.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: How about that? Oh my goodness, Hanita. What a moment.
• 49:12
  Speaker 4: I didn't even know that it's going to be the
• 49:14
  Speaker 4: title track.
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Look at that for a moment. Can you believe that?
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: And uh you've you've turned it into something absolutely amazing
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: we're gonna play it right now before we play the
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: song first of all i wanted to thank you for
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: your time today you've been so gracious so open with
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: your journey and and And most importantly, you know, you
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: weren't afraid to be so vulnerable and show us the
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: moments that were tough for you. And those are the
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: moments that make these good moments even sweeter, right, Hanita?
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: So congratulations to you. And if you don't mind, please
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: take the microphone here from me and introduce this song
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: for us.
• 49:56
  Speaker 4: Hi, everyone. I'm Hanita Bhamri, and you're going to be
• 49:59
  Speaker 4: listening to Toxic, which is the title track of Toxic,
• 50:04
  Speaker 4: A fairy tale for adults. And here you go.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Hanita. Thank you for joining us today.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: All right, folks, here's the song Toxic.
• 50:14
  Speaker 4: Broke my rules like a fool When you crashed.
• 50:20
  Speaker 16: Into me, fool My cards, you win Took the bait
• 50:28
  Speaker 16: of what.
• 50:29
  Speaker 14: You think That.
• 50:31
  Speaker 16: You're the one It's just a wound So help me
• 50:38
  Speaker 16: let go, my love I'll never show You're.
• 50:44
  Speaker 4: The enemy Can you set me free?
• 50:48
  Speaker 3: You're the drug I want. I'm addicted, baby.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: All you need is a taste of me. But don't come.
• 50:57
  Speaker 16: Too close or burn your lies.
• 50:59
  Speaker 15: It's dangerous falling for me.
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: I'm the drug you want. You're addicted, baby.
• 51:07
  Speaker 8: Close your eyes of the old demise.
• 51:11
  Speaker 3: Let me hold you, hold.
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: You, hold you tight. When you gotta play Love is
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: just a game There is no escape.
• 52:04
  Speaker 15: You're addicted, so addicted.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: Baby Hanita Bambri. The song is called Toxic. It's her
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: collaboration with Vishal Mishra. And a big coming-of-age moment for her.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: Really enjoyed that conversation with Hanita. And you get the
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: feeling she's going places. And she's off to a flying
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: start with a big collaboration like that on a big
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: movie like Toxic and a big song like that with
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: Vishal Mishra. I'll give you my closing remarks here in
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: a little bit on Hanita Bambri. Now let's bring in
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: Doitha Dasgupta to the show with today's artist spotlight. What's up, Doitha? Hi, everyone.
• 53:09
  Speaker 15: This is Doitha Dasgupta, your Ruckus Avenue radio music correspondent
• 53:12
  Speaker 15: back with another artist spotlight. Today, we're talking about The Landers,
• 53:16
  Speaker 15: the Punjabi trio made up of Davi Singh, Guri Singh,
• 53:19
  Speaker 15: and Sukh Kharood. Known for blending traditional Punjabi folk vibes
• 53:23
  Speaker 15: with modern pop, hip-hop, and dance influences, the group first
• 53:27
  Speaker 15: broke into the scene in 2026 with tracks like Lander
• 53:30
  Speaker 15: and Jailfeel and quickly built a fanbase thanks to their
• 53:33
  Speaker 15: energetic sound and catchy hooks. Over the years, this evolved
• 53:37
  Speaker 15: into one of Punjabi's most consistent acts. delivering sound favorites
• 53:41
  Speaker 15: like Gusta Kiyan, Rule Over, Sikar Koi Na, and Heart Patient,
• 53:45
  Speaker 15: while experimenting with newer sounds across projects like their 2023
• 53:49
  Speaker 15: EP Beyond Belief. Their momentum continued through 2025 with releases
• 53:54
  Speaker 15: such as Mera Rakha, and they kicked off 2026 with
• 53:57
  Speaker 15: the fresh single Fiery Hasti, showing their signature mix of melody, rhythm,
• 54:02
  Speaker 15: and modern production still evolving. With strong streaming numbers and
• 54:06
  Speaker 15: a sound that bridges old-school Punjabi roots with global influences,
• 54:10
  Speaker 15: the Landers continue to prove why they remain a staple
• 54:13
  Speaker 15: in the Punjabi music landscape, delivering music that feels both
• 54:16
  Speaker 15: nostalgic and forward-looking at the same time. Well, that's all
• 54:20
  Speaker 15: from me. Stay tuned for more only on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Doita. Yeah, the Landers continue to
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: make a mark out there and not only in Punjabi
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: music but also into Bollywood as well. Here's their song,
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Zindagi Cha Auna.
• 54:50
  Speaker 19: Sone sone phul shule sone hatha naa Je mare mere
• 54:54
  Speaker 19: utte mere titchhe mere lehi Ta waru te.
• 54:57
  Speaker 12: Thokle kale chale mere.
• 54:58
  Speaker 19: Saha Je wada kare hath badi kathe hai tur naa
• 55:03
  Speaker 19: Ta hath mere hoon tere kadhe maa dera Ho se
• 55:05
  Speaker 19: piki ji maa tera inji lagia Jo.
• 55:06
  Speaker 5: Mor ternu lagge koi jeen.
• 55:08
  Speaker 13: Pi dua Ho se piki ji maa tera inji lagia Jo.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: Mor ternu lagge koi jeen pi dua.
• 55:19
  Speaker 12: Even the flowers have a beautiful smile, with the song
• 55:21
  Speaker 12: four moon, take.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: Me to the house of love. .
• 55:30
  Speaker 20: .
• 55:32
  Speaker 3: .
• 55:33
  Speaker 12: In the shadow of love, in my love,
• 55:38
  Speaker 12: you see a suit.
• 55:39
  Speaker 4: The one who.
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: Cut it, there is no regret.
• 55:42
  Speaker 20: It will happen if you stay.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: Alive, don't tell me.
• 55:46
  Speaker 19: If you die for me, if you are behind me,
• 55:50
  Speaker 19: if you walk with me, if you promise me that
• 55:53
  Speaker 19: you will not break my hand, then my hand is
• 55:55
  Speaker 19: now at your feet.
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: Your eyes are the only thing in this world.
• 56:13
  Speaker 12: Without you, there is no love in this world. I
• 56:15
  Speaker 12: don't want to lose our love for you. Now I'm
• 56:18
  Speaker 12: going to fall in love with you.
• 56:20
  Speaker 19: I'm falling in love with you.
• 56:29
  Speaker 10: If I die, I'll be left behind. If I die,
• 56:32
  Speaker 10: I'll be left behind. If I die, I'll be left behind.
• 56:36
  Speaker 10: If I die, I'll be left behind. If I die,
• 56:38
  Speaker 10: I'll be left behind. If I die, I'll be left behind.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: The Landers, the song called Zindagi Jaona. Big shout out
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: to Hanata Bambri for joining me today. Give you some
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: closing remarks on the interview. Let me tell you guys
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: what you just heard. It's a really interesting story, isn't it?
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: Years ago, Hanita Bambri missed a phone call from Vishal
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Mishra's studio, and they needed her that same day. But
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: she was in the wrong city, in the wrong moment,
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: and the door closed. Most artists would carry that as
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: a scar. You know what she did instead? She moved
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: to Mumbai, opened a diary, and wrote down five words.
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: I will work with Vishal Mishra. And then she let
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: it rest, and went back to work. She'd been preparing
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: her whole life anyway. writing since she was 11 years old,
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: before she could even sing. And when the call finally came,
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: it came for the pen, not for the voice. Write
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: us English lyrics, they said. That's all. And she walked
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: into that studio, telling herself, this is your zone. You've
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: been doing this since you were a kid. You got this.
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: Then came the moment, presenting her lyrics. She started humming them.
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: And Vishal Mishra stopped her and said, you've got a
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: great voice. You want to record this song? He put
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: the director on speakerphone and Hanata sang the whole track
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: into a phone. The first draft was approved. Not one
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: word changed. She'd even written backup lyrics. She'll tell you
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: she's a Virgo. She never needed them. 24 hours. One day,
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: she's driving around Mumbai, an independent artist, watching the numbers
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: like everyone else. The next day, she's the voice of
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: the title track of one of the biggest films in
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: the country. And she didn't even know it was the
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: title track. So here's what I'll carry out of this conversation.
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: She told us, success is opportunity meeting preparation. And she
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: went deeper. She said you have to feel safe to
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: be seen, because everybody wants the moment, but very few
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: people are ready when it arrives. Hanita was ready. The
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: diary proves she believed. The pen proves she prepared. And
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: the song proves the moment always finds the ones who do.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: That's Hanita Bambri, and you heard it here on the bridge.
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: Hope you had a great day hanging out with me, folks.
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: I'll leave you with this song. It's called Long Way
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: From Home. Have a great day, everybody. See you tomorrow.
• 59:46
  Speaker 7: Duniya khumari hai mai bhi kamal hu dekho na ghoomte
• 59:49
  Speaker 7: ja raha hu Ki toote na himmat isli hai tasweer
• 59:52
  Speaker 7: ko maa ki mai choomte ja raha hu Mili na
• 59:54
  Speaker 7: manzil to chal padha mandir ko socha bhagwaan milenge jo
• 59:57
  Speaker 7: pehle se