Singer-songwriter, Niyati Handa might have only begun to find her footing in the music industry as an independent artist but just like the many artists out there, she has big aspirations and is lured by playback singing as much as we love listening to Hindi songs the big screen in a movie and otherwise.
In an exclusive conversation with IWMBuzz, Niyati Handa opened up on whether playback singing appeals to her and her aim towards it, her opinion on skin shows and sensationalism in music videos, and her plans ahead.
Q. Niyati, firstly, please tell us a little about yourself. How did music happen to you?
A little history about myself. I have done Political Science Honors and then did a Masters in Journalism. I was very young when I came to Mumbai. My first job was with Indian television dot com, and after working as a journalist for around 4 to 5 years, I switched to Times Music Label, where I worked for three years. While I was working there, that is when I realised that I was not cut out to do a 9 to 5 job, where music and art have always been a part of me, and my life. I never took it seriously as a profession but with so many platforms constantly coming up and the indie scene blowing up, there are so many opportunities out there for independent artists out there.
One day, I decided to quit that job, and finally follow my passion professionally. Then I decided to start from scratch, and I have loved this hustle so much – there are good days and bad days, and it isn’t easy. Because when you are doing a job, a fixed amount is coming in every month but when you are an artist, the money is going in making that art and music, so it is difficult but I am a much happier person now. Having switched so much, I have now finally decided to stick to this, and I am loving it so far.
Q. In this extremely competitive industry of music, as an independent artist, how do you make sure to stand out?
We all know that the music and entertainment industry is very competitive. There are thousands of artists out there and India is one country, where there is so much talent out there and everyone is so good too. My job is to create good music, create an appealing video and do everything from my heart. Whether or not, it will be successful or not, that isn’t in my hand at all. When it comes to how I stand out as an individual as an artist, I believe my music is very commercial and it connects with the audiences – that is why when they listen to my music, they come back and listen to it again and again.
And secondly, how I present myself and how I put myself out there is important. I reach out to radio stations, magazines, and so on by messaging them, mailing them, and DMing them on Instagram as much as possible so that my work is published and reaches the maximum audience possible. I am a total believer in luck and destiny and I guess luck plays a very big role in your life, so yes, I am waiting for that one day when my song starts trending. Because music is subjective – some like it, some won’t like it. But I play around a lot with the visuals that are being created for the song – and I believe my songs are very different from what other artists are putting out there these days. I am an indie artist but my music is very much on the commercial side and has a Western influence to it.
Q. Shiqayat has a much deeper meaning than it seems. As the writer, composer and performer of the song, is it essential for you to have a song mean something or do you follow and focus on the musical aspect of it?
Talking about Shiqayat, I have written this song from my personal experiences – something I have been experiencing since childhood, and it isn’t just my story, it is every human being’s story. Shiqayat is all about complaints – whether there are friends or family or so on – people are trying to degrade you, change you and keep complaining about your behavior, your attitude and so on. It is like a vicious circle that goes on and is never-ending. I kept that in mind and told myself, ‘That’s it’, I should write about this. I was travelling to my gym in a rickshaw and started humming the melody of the now-out song, Shiqayat.
This has a very powerful message and a powerful music video as well. I wrote 2-3 songs randomly as well, and I don’t believe every song needs to have a meaning. We are artists – sometimes, I might be sitting on a chair having a cup of tea, and humming some melody, and lyrics might join the course. Then, I am not thinking too much and just going with the flow. There are songs that we even write for money because I am a songwriter and composer – so I have been writing songs for other artists as well. Music is so subjective, and while you write something, it might not mean anything to you but it might mean something to another person, who is listening to it. It might be unintentional.
Q. Many claim how skin show or sensationalizing the visual aspect of a music video still appeals to the masses. Do you believe in this and do you believe it is essential?
You know I am a very visual person, and I love making videos as much as I can of all my songs. However, there are budget restraints owing to being an independent artist. I don’t think that skin show or sensationalizing a video can get you anywhere, in fact nowadays all the songs and audio that are trending on Instagram, Spotify and so on don’t even have music videos. Like the song, ‘Kal Raat Aaya Mere Ghar Chor’, or Mitra’s song, ‘Chand Baliyan’, and so on have been trending and being loved – they did not have any music video or show-sha to it. It was trending on only the basis of good audio.
So yes, I don’t think, skin show or sensationalism is important at all – of course, people do connect to a video if there is one. But I don’t think it has to be sexy or sensationalized. If you see my music videos, they are obviously sexy but they are classy at the same time. There is a very thin line between being classy and sassy as opposed to looking vulgar and cheap. So you have to draw that line and see how you want to present yourself. It also depends on artist to artist, and if an artist is comfortable showing skin and if they feel their song requires it, then why not? I mean Cardi B does it and so many female artists do that in the West, especially rappers – it depends from person to person. Personally, for me, I don’t think that is necessary to be famous or get noticed.
Q. Has playback singing appealed to you and if so, who would love to sing for?
You know singing has always been a part of my childhood. I have grown up listening to those songs from Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, and RD Burman. Then in my college days, I used to listen to Alisha Chinoi, Honey Singh, and many more because they used to trend the most. I heard a lot of pop and Bollywood music. Sunidhi Chauhan is my idol, I just love her. I really look up to Asees Kaur – I have been listening to their music all the time. I have always been influenced so yes, I would love to do playback singing for my favorite actresses like Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, and even Triptii Dimri. Hopefully, you will see singing a lot of Bollywood songs very soon.
Q. What is the one thing you hope to accomplish in the next few years?
There are so many things I want to accomplish in life, I have literally just started. We are very greedy as human beings – we want more and more. For me, as an artist, I want to do world tours and be as big as Diljit Dosanjh and perform on a UK stage, Canada stage, USA, Coachella, and so on. I see myself performing there. That is my ultimate dream. I want to sing my songs in films as well – the feel of that is completely different. When you see your song being played on a 70 mm screen – that feeling is just on the next level. I cannot explain that in words. I do see myself doing Bollywood projects soon. I want to do world tours with Diljit Dosanjh and without him as well (laughs). I am a performer and I want to do so around the world.