Shalmali Kholgade’s trick to dealing with negativity: Keeping herself busy with studies

Ever since she sang Pareshaan (Ishaqzaade; 2012), there has been a pressure on singer-songwriter Shalmali Kholgade to keep getting better. But in the seven years since then, she has learned to get used to it.

“That’s more of a pressure you put on yourself, I’ve learnt, rather than people putting that pressure on you. I did feel the pressure initially. But I always try leaving negative feelings aside by immersing myself in studying. That way I know I’m moving forward and I’m only getting better than the time I sang Pareshaan,” says Shalmali, who is known for songs such as Lat Lag Gayee (Race 2; 2012) and Beech Beech Mein (Jab Harry Met Sejal; 2017).

One of the ways to improve

THE SINGER FEELS COLLABORATIONS ARE A GREAT WAY TO TEST ONE’S MUSIC KNOWLEDGE

as a musician is through collaborations, and Shalmali is aware of this. The 29-yearold collaborated with composer Vishal Dadlani and international musician Diplo for the single Khullam Khulla.

“I am so grateful that I am featured on a Diplo and Vishal Dadlani track. But I feel like a collaboration can’t be just walking into a studio, getting a predetermined melody and singing on a track. In that sense, this wasn’t a collab. But I do believe that putting yourself in a studio to write music with others puts your existing knowledge of music to test and helps you understand how much more you can get from a setting like that as against just working alone,” says Shalmali.

Talking about how the music industry has evolved, the Balam Pichkari singer says, “Some prominent changes would be fewer songs for women and more electronic music. I personally love electronic music. We’ve even seen indie music shaping up to be another source of music for the public. Hopefully, the content can also evolve into meaningful ideas.”