No money in playback singing in Bollywood, so Rahul Vaidya will focus on live gigs

He became a household name after impressing on a couple of singing reality shows over a decade ago. And despite not having sung many songs for Bollywood projects, Rahul Vaidya is happy. Unlike a lot of his peers, the singer says he is focusing on independent singles.

“Basically, I have never chased Bollywood. It will happen whenever it has to,” he says. “It never was my target. I don’t believe you need to do playback, or a song is a song only because an actor is dancing to it, and then I will be qualified as a successful singer. It’s a perception that people have. I know so many people who are doing much better in life than people who are singing in films,” the 31-year-old shares.

“It’s not that I have any offence against anybody. Bollywood chases success. One big song out, and they will chase you. If you go first to them, they will say ‘abhi nahin... yeh hai, voh hai’. I, therefore, believe in doing my thing. I am a very busy live performer, and release singles every three-four months. I and my clients are happy, and that is what matters,” explains Vaidya, whose latest Yaad Teri, he says, is getting outstanding response. The singer has singles such as Dilbar Mere and Simple Dress to his credit, and also the unplugged versions of Be Intehaan (Race 2, 2013) and Baaton Ko Teri (All Is Well, 2015).

But be it films or the indie space — the money, laments Vaidya, isn’t good. He says, “Singers do not make money with recorded music, unfortunately in India. Film ke gaane ke ₹15,000-25,000, par bahut bade singers huye to lakhs per song. Royalty waise hi nahin aati. I am not a person who wants to get into that. However, we make great money through gigs. Humaara koi business family toh hai nahin, ki crore rupaye chahiye. Hum leke kya aaye the?”

Rahul Vaidya says he is happy as an independent musician and active live performer