‘Tera Mera’ is all about finding love in friendship: Neha Bhasin

It’s Valentine’s Day; a time when love takes centre-stage and everything else gets sort of pushed aside. Love is a feeling that is not “lover-specific”, for it can blossom anytime, anywhere and for anyone. And what better than music – which can help you express your love, as it speaks the language of melody, soothing your body and soul. On this very special day, the very talented singer Neha Bhasin has come up with her latest single – titled ‘Tera Mera: Unplugged’ as a tribute to people who like her music. In an exclusive with Ananya Bhattacharya of Zeenews.com, Neha spoke about her passion for music, her latest number and lots more. Here are a few excerpts: You`ve always been passionate about music. What is it that you think sets a musician apart from the rest of the crowd? Not just musicians but artists of any calibre look different, with a sort of radiance on their faces, and are so full of life. A commoner is always different from artists, dancers and musicians, for they have something creative to serve. You`ve been a part of an all-girls` band back in 2002. Now in 2013, a girls` band from Kashmir had to be disbanded owing to threats. Anything that you`d want to say about this. We are a nation which is very male-driven. You and I live in a very modern society where our fathers have allowed us to do what we want. This particular incident is a mirror to that reality check that we aren’t really growing as a nation. We are not democratic as a nation. We are driven by religion. The law must support a little more than it does. I am not surprised by this unfortunate incident. We have a lot of communities that want to stand up at any given point to suppress women or any good thing which is going to happen. As a nation we need to be more secular. Your single `Tera Mera` is being released on Valentine`s Day. What is the intent behind the same? It’s actually a version of the song ‘Tera Mera’ that I had released last year in July and this is ‘Tera Mera: Unplugged’. The biggest intent behind coming up with this version is that I wanted to do this song for my fans and since it is a love song, I thought there is not better day to come up with it than on Valentine’s Day. We just broke down the songs into basics… which is my background, which is guitar and voices in harmony. It’s a very organic kind of production where we haven’t used any produced element. It’s an unplugged version where voices are doing most parts of the instruments. The intent was to come up with something that is very fresh. Every time I come up with a single, it gives an opportunity to reach out to people who like me and my music and not just the film music that I do. What is the song `Tera Mera` all about? ‘Tera Mera’ is all about finding love in friendship. Is the song dedicated to someone special? It is dedicated to the special feeling at the point when I wrote it. What inspires the song is the feeling that I experience while penning them. The song is all about being able to fall in love with your friend, something that can happen effortlessly. Bollywood playback or independent music - what do you prefer? I like both but I prefer doing my own music. What is it that you would like to contribute to the music industry? First of all, I would like to clarify one concept to the aam janta - film music has nothing to do with music that is done otherwise. In the West, there is Music and Film Music. There is no such thing as Non-Film music. There is no such demarcation. For instance when you make music for a film, it’s for a medium with a specific purpose which is brilliant. But it does not give you an outlet as an artist and which is why I like doing my own music. I like to do both. Unfortunately in India, film music is sort of bread and butter. I began my career by writing my own songs. And I would like to keep doing what I am doing. But believe me, it’s tough. The past ten days have been really tough for me and my team. We shot the video; colour corrected it on our own, uploaded the video on our own, and spoke to channels which were willing to air it. We pulled everything off by ourselves. Though it’s tough, you know you have your fans out there waiting to listen to you. So you need to take what it takes to reach out to them. It is tough, but artists who really want to do independent music should not give up. If you don’t go by logic but follow your heart, you reach where you want to. That’s what I believe. Any special message for our readers. Give artists a chance to do all kinds of music. There is a huge sea out there that has both Indian and global music that they can subscribe to. My latest independent song is out there for free downloading. I was very clear in my mind when I thought of ‘Tera Mera: Unplugged’ that it wouldn’t be for commercial purposes. It is only meant for fans.