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Armaan and I are not dating; he calls me ‘paneer’ just to tease me: Shirley
Shirley Setia has rapidly made her way into the hearts of millions of listeners, right from the time she did covers of songs on YouTube, to making her playback singing debut with Disco Disco (A Gentleman; 2017). Asked if the transition to singing in films was any difficult, the New-Zealand born singer says, “I don’t think it was easy, but it just happened with the flow. All this cannot be planned [in a way] that you take your CV, apply, and then you get a call for an interview! (laughs). It doesn’t work like that. It happens when it’s meant to be, and you just have to trust your gut. When I moved to India, it was a big step for my parents and I. I came to India right after my graduation.”
Ever since Shirley worked with singer Armaan Malik in a song based on an ad commercial, rumours about them seeing each other have been doing the rounds.
Prod her if there’s anything more to these rumours, Shirley quips, “I am going to be honest. I have been doing so many Twitter chats and Facebook Live interactions, and always been asked this question. No, we are not dating! We are really good friends, who have worked together, and I also accompany our entire band to performances. That brought all of us close, and whenever we two meet at any party or event, we click a lot of pictures. People took that to be a clue to us dating.”
When we asked her the reason why Armaan always tags her as ‘paneer’ (cottage cheese) on her pics, she quips, “He teases me, because he knows I don’t like eating paneer!”
Her latest single, Jab Koi Baat — a remake of the classic Bollywood song by the same title is also making a lot of buzz. What made her say ‘yes’ to the offer was the fact that she would be singing it with Pakistani singer Atif Aslam. “It was a dream project! When I was offered the song, I immediately said yes because I had been a fan of this song. I had attended one of Atif’s concerts in 2011, and I got a lot of inspiration seeing him [perform] on stage. I decided that this is what I want to do in life, and it’s because of him that I am singing today,” reveals Shirley.