‘I BECAME A PLAYBACK SINGER BY ACCIDENT’
Rocker Siddharth Basrur, the frontman of Goddess Gagged, feels his foray into Bollywood music wasn’t a planned move
Before making his debut in Bollywood with Haunted 3D (2011) with two songs — Mujhe De De Har Gum Tera and Jaaniya — Mumbai-based singer Siddharth Basrur (above) was the frontman of the popular Mumbai-based metal band, Goddess Gagged.
Although he loves singing, Basrur reveals that he became a playback singer by accident. “I had never sung a Hindi song before Haunted (3D). Apart from a couple of ad jingles, I had sung in English only for the band and otherwise. I didn’t know half of the words of my first song and thus wasn’t able to sing it with emotions. So I had to sing it again to emote well,” recalls Siddharth.
Over the course of six years in the industry, Basrur has sung hit tracks, such as, Tera Nasha (Players, 2011), Haseena Tu Kameena Main (Happy Ending, 2014) and Neend Na Mujhko Aaye (Shandaar, 2015), among others. “Just as a singer for a metal or a rock band, you can’t sustain your livelihood. So, I had done a couple of jobs, before I became a fulltime singer [in Bollywood]. Although the jobs were related to music, but I had no time for my music and that had somewhere created a void in me,” he shares.
This propelled the singer to go back to creating his own music and the music directors of the film Haunted 3D liked a few of them. “I grabbed the opportunity and since then, I’ve enjoyed whatever has come my way,” he says.
Siddharth admits that he has been stereotyped in the industry already, but that it doesn’t bother him. “The music industry has qualified me as the ‘rock-type music singer’. But I don’t have any problem with that. As long as I am getting a chance to sing, it’s fine. Genres don’t bother me; nor do stereotypes,” says the singer, who, last year, was a part of multiple shows with his band across India.
As a singer for a metal or a rock band, you can’t sustain your livelihood. So, I had done a couple of jobs before joining Bollywood SIDDHARTH BASRUR, SINGER