OnTheBeatWith| Jubin Nautiyal: ‘I am yet to explore a lot in music’

It was not just another regular evening at IIT Roorkee that day - there were over 30,000 fans cheering, grooving and singing along as Jubin Nautiyal touched all hearts present there with his soulful rendition of Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur Hum. It was one of his biggest and most-loved concerts. So how did this small-town boy reach there?

Growing up in the picturesque valley of Dehradun, Jubin Nautiyal, dabbled in multiple things – got himself a black belt in Mixed Martial Arts, was into rifle shooting, Discus and Javelin throw and even pursued a degree in business administration, MBA. He could’ve chosen a career in business or even politics, since he was known for being a politician’s son (Ramsharan Nautiyal is his father) but his deeply spiritual side pulled him away from all that and his sheer love for music triumphed over everything else.

He learnt music in Dehradun, went to Benaras to learn the expressions and the adayagi of light classical, spent time in Chennai to get the hang of alternative rock music, turned to youtube to hone his guitar skills and even learnt how to play some instruments, online. When there is such a deep dedication, the artiste invariably reaches the epitome of success. However, it wasn’t all that easy for Jubin to reach where he is now.

At 21, he came to Mumbai to participate in a music reality show. Of the three judges there, one said a no to him. The Dehradun boy was rejected on national television by none other than Sonu Nigam. Jubin, however, treated this first failure as a stepping stone to success and even to this day is grateful for that rejection by his idol, because it led him to be better. Jubin honed his skills, practiced even more and soon enough he tasted success in mainstream commercial cinema. Last month, he won the IIFA Award, Playback Singer (Male) for Raataan Lambiyan from Shershaah. The soulful singer is known for his popular songs Akh Lad Jaave from Loveyatri, Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata (Reprise) from Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kinna Sona from Marjaavaan, Socha Hai from  Baadshaho, Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur Hum from Kabir Singh and others. Among his latest songs is Chaiyaan Mein Saiyaan Ki from the yet-to-be released, Vidyut Jammwal starrer, Khuda Haafiz 2.

 Talking to us about some of his memories attached to a few of his hits he shares, “There are many but I would like to share about this concert I did at IIT Roorkee. I sang Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur Hum from Kabir Singh. It was a huge audience and the energy during that performance was mesmerising and the audience was very excited to sing the song with me. Later, when the video of that performance was released, it went on to become the ‘most viewed live performance on YouTube in Asia’ and I got a lot of recognition for that. That moment was quite a memorable one. Well, there have been many, many such moments and I am very thankful for the love my fans shower on me.”

On singers judging music shows he says, “Yes, I feel after years of training in music and creating music, one feels the need to pass it on to the next generation. Each artiste has his or her own journey and sometimes mentoring is a part of the journey.”

With Aatishbaazi in 2020, which was shot in Uttarakhand amidst the pandemic and lockdown, Jubin debuted music video direction and highlighted his love for his beautiful state of Uttarakhand.  Jubin has had a decent balance between mainstream Bollywood music and indie. His non-film songs like Maafi, Main Jis Din Bhula Du, Lut Gaye, Bedardi Se Pyaar Ka, Barsaat Ki Dhun, Tumse Pyaar Karke and others have been much appreciated and garnered multiple hits online. Recently, he collaborated with music composer Vishal Mishra. “Darbadar from the album Ittu Si Baat, marks my first collaboration with Vishal Mishra. He reached out to me saying that he's made a song for my voice and on hearing it I realised it was indeed tailored to perfection for my voice. The song is out on Saregama Music. Over the years, I've had the best time singing for some of the most talented composers.” He has worked with Pritam, Mithoon, Tanishk Bagchi, Sachin-Jigar, Meet Bros amongst others. “I really enjoyed my recent song Darbadar with Vishal, loved working with Mithoon for Tujhe Kitna Chahein Aur Hum and with Payal Dev on Tum Hi Aana.”

Recently, he also met up with Sri Lankan sensation Yohani of the Manike Mage Hithe fame for a song. “Yes, we are still working on the song and it is yet to be finished,” he tells us. When asked if he would ever consider acting, he immediately says, “I am an actor for my music videos. It's easy for me to act in music videos as I've lived the song and played it through my voice. I respect what actors do because it takes a lot of effort and hard work to hold a character and play it out in depth. I'm yet to explore a lot in music.”

Debarati S Sen is a consultant journalist and writer who writes on music, culture, theatre, films, OTT and more. Instagram: @DebaratiSSen

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