Bewafa Beauty singer feels it is a task to match Urmila’s precision
For singer Pawni Pandey, who has recorded the song Bewafa Beauty for Abhinay Deo’s Blackmail, it is time for double celebration. First, the song marks actor Urmila Matondkar’s return to the big screen after almost a decade, and second, it is for the first time that Pawni has sung a track composed by Amit Trivedi.
While Urmila was seen in the 2014 Marathi film Ajoba, her last full-length role in a Hindi film was EMI (2008).
Whether she was more excited or nervous about the expectations surrounding the song, Pawni says, “Honestly, I was a little more nervous as it was my first song with Amit Trivedi, and adding to it was the fact that it was being picturised on Urmila, who is a gorgeous actor as well as an amazing dancer.”
She has earlier worked with renowned music directors such as Himesh Reshammiya, Kalyanji–Anandji, Ram Sampath, and Tanishk Bagchi
A lot of young singers these are lending their voice to popular dance numbers, some of them featuring top names and legendary actors. Asked if this creates a pressure of sorts on the singer, Pawni, who has sung Laila Main Laila (Raees; 2017), Sahiba (Phillauri; 2017), and Sweety Tera Drama (Bareilly Ki Barfi; 2017), says knowing the actor being featured in the song only helps in bringing out the best.
She explains, “Most singers don’t really know the details of the picturisation of the song. In such cases, all you can do is try to give your best shot. Luckily, whichever songs I’ve sung so far, I was told about the actors [beforehand], so that really helps me bring out their character in the song. I do not burden my mind with pressure while working, but yes, it’s a task to maintain and match up to the iconic actor’s precision.”
Talking about how she gives each of her songs a different feel, Pawni says, “Till now, luckily, all my tracks have been different from each other, and I’m grateful to my fans for loving them all so much. In this song (Bewafa Beauty), as it has a feeling of the 90’s and is set in a bar, I had to sing it with a little over-expression — more of adaayein and nakhras. I’ve never sung a song that involved loud expressions.”
The singer also wants to “explore a different genre” where she can sing “a pure romantic solo or a Sufi song”.