Millind Gaba: ‘My Next Single Is With Tulsi Kumar Called Naam’

Millind Gaba is an Indian singer and actor associated with Punjabi and Bollywood music. He is known for his songs Nazar Lag Jayegi, She Don’t Know and Yaar Mod Do.

While in conversation with UrbanAsian, Millind Gaba opens up about his latest hit Teri Yaari, working with Aparshakti and T-series, his upcoming projects and more.

1.How are you spending your quarantine days?

I have been making music & this period has been extremely productive for me as I’ve had so much free time, so all I’ve done is make music. I have started cooking too, like everybody else but I’ve mainly made tons of kickass music. I’m looking forward to working on these songs in a proper studio once this lockdown is over.

2. Once this lockdown is over what is that first things you are going to do?

First thing I’m going to do is go to my studio, the music I’ve currently made is on a small setup, I’ll go work on it at my big studio as soon as I can. If I get time after that, I’m going to Goa with my friends. I am missing my friends a lot & according to me Goa is the best place to hang out with them.

3. Your latest hit, Teri Yaari, is getting a great response. How are you feeling in receiving so much love from your fans?

Yes, Teri Yaari is getting an overwhelming response & I’m thankful & so blessed. This is the first song that I’ve sung where I’ve also used Bhangra rhythm. Like I’ve always said, I love experiments & this was one of them. I’m so blessed to have such wonderful people around me; they appreciate everything I do, even all my experiments. I’m on cloud 9 thanks to the response to Teri Yaari.

4. How did this song take place and tell us something about how this beautiful story of marriage and friendship was created?

I had this thought of combining friendship & bhangra in my mind. Bhangra has such a rhythm that everyone wants to dance to it; even Non-Punjabi’s want to dance to the beat. I’ve been to concerts & clubs everywhere, whenever Punjabi tracks, especially Mundian To Bach Ke gets played I feel so much pride, that all the foreigners are dancing, whether they understand the language or not, the vibe of bhangra is what excites everyone. Kaazi & I wrote this song together, the marriage concept was my idea because Apar paaji was on board. I thought he should play the big brother and the story should develop from that. We came up with the idea with our wonderful director Navjit Buttar and he wrote the storyline & screenplay & it came out perfectly.

5. How was it working with Aparshakti Khurana?

Working with Aparshakti Khurrana paaji was amazing, I thought since he’s a Mumbaikar he’d be a rigid professional who works with his head more than his heart. I thought he’d be very particular, he’d see the time, give the shot & leave but he was nothing like that. He’s as crazy as I am, we had too much fun together on the sets & he shared so much with me; about acting, about how he started & I shared so much with him too, about how I started & how I got into this field. It was fun working with him.

6. You have earlier worked with King Kaazi for Gym Boyz. Can you share any memory that you have with him?

Yes, I have worked with Kaazi for Gym Boyz & I used to work very hard back then because there comes a time when you’re very particular; you’re strict about your diet, strict about your body, strict about your physique. There’s nothing like that nowadays, because I’m eating a lot of oil, carbs & tons of home food & I’m not paying as much attention to gymming & working out. Back then I was so perfect, I used to have 6 pack abs, I was so concerned about my body and that experience was so great.

7. You have also collaborated with Tseries earlier, how is it working with such a big label again?

Collaborating with T-Series has always been special for me, because ever since I’ve started singing I’ve worked with T-Series only. I’ve become part of the T-Series family now & it means a lot to me that Bhushan sir is always supportive, always encouraging me to work even harder, work more creatively. I owe my success to Bhushan Sir, because without his guidance it wouldn’t have been possible to get my music released to a 100 Million+ audience.

8. You come up with amazing and catchy hook lines what is your inspiration?

I don’t have to work too hard to get inspired to write catchy lines or slang, because being a Delhi-ite, whatever is happening around me, whatever I hear, whatever I feel, I just write it down in a rhythmic manner. I luckily don’t have to put in too much effort; I already have so much slang I know, so much I already have to sing about. I work very calmly, very purely because whatever is in front of me, I write about.

9. What difference do you see while singing an independent single and singing for a Bollywood movie?

There is always a difference between singing for a Bollywood song & a single. While singing for a Bollywood movie, you’re given a situation and you have to work according to that, everything has to be planned around the movie. This isn’t the case in independent music, there are no limitations, and you can use whatever you feel like in terms of music, in terms of lyrics, that is the major difference.

Check out the song Teri Yaari Right here!

10. Apart from this, what other projects are you working on?

After Teri Yaari you’ll see me in a very different role, opposite the amazing Tulsi Kumar ma’am. We’ve done a romantic, sad number together and it’s been shot so amazingly, you’ll watch the video & fall in love. I’m so excited because this is my first collaboration with the amazing Tulsi ma’am & it was wonderful. She’s so humble and super sweet. When you’re working with her you don’t feel like she’s The Tulsi Kumar, she’s so grounded. Whenever I talk about her I get a smile on my face, because she’s actually very sweet. My next single is with Tulsi ma’am & it’s called Naam and I’m so excited for it.