He rose to fame with the 2016 song, Taang Utha Ke. Since then, he has come a long way. And today, singer Hrishikesh Chury is riding high on the success of his latest single Mehfooz from the film Tera Intezaar. In an exclusive interview to thestatesman.com, the singer talks about his early years and credits his journey of fame and success to Housefull 3.

Hrishikesh began his journey in the entertainment industry six years ago with a song in the film Naughty@40. He was also a jury member on the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs. But his journey, according to him, began with Taang Utha Ke.

“I did a song for a film back in 2011, but my actual journey began last year (2016) with Housefull 3. The song was a party anthem and went on to become a chartbuster. I consider that was the point from where it all began, like the music shows and concerts it all happened only after that,” Hrishikesh says.

According to Hrishikesh, Taang Utha Ke was a wonderful experience as it had six big names attached to it.

“The song was filmed on six people from Akshay Kumar to Nargis Fakhri. It was a major treat for me as you have to sing for all the three lead males in the song. Singing for more than one person in a song is a big thing for me, it was a wonderful experience singing for all those prominent actors of Bollywood,” Hrishikesh on his experience of singing for Akshay Kumar, Abhsihek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh.

After trying to sing the popular 90s songs, Hrishikesh realised that he can sing and why not make it a career option.

“I used to listen to the 90s songs and try to sing them and at that point, I realised that I can sing, I should give it a try. So, I started to learn music and got myself trained by some classical singers. It’s a long journey if we go back,” the singer says.

Hrishikesh is an old school guy and consider the likes of Mohammad Rafi Saheb and Asha Bhosle as his idols.

“There is not just one. There are many. Mohammad Rafi Saheb and Asha ji, and all the other legendary musicians had a major influence on me. These legends are known for their unique quality of adding something to the song and I learnt so much from them in all these years,

“Old is gold. The era of those songs were different and unique as the technology and the composition was different. The present time is also different, but there’s not just one singer that I idolise, there are many legends,” Hrishikesh adds.

Hrishikesh is a big time Amitabh Bachchan fan and would love to sing for the megastar.

“Given the chance of singing for another actor, It would be the living legend among us, Mr Amitabh Bachchan. I would love to sing for Amit ji,” Hrishikesh says.

Yet another amazing experience for the singer was being a jury member of the show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs.

“Amazing! Jury was amazing so was my experience on the show. It was great to share the panel with so many people from music directors to singers to sound engineers. It was a great learning experience for me. I was actually nervous when I heard that there will be 30 people in the panel but eventually we all got on the same track as a small family on the show,” Hrishikesh says.

While he is comfortable singing, performing on stage makes the singer nervous every single time.

“I do get nervous almost every time before performing for live shows and music concerts. You see there is a live crowd and you can feel the vibe of that crowd waiting for you to sing. So there’s a lot of pressure on you to nail the perfect performance and deliver what you promised. Eventually everything ends well despite my nervousness,” Hrishikesh says.

The singer has also been an active social activist and has been working towards the betterment of the society.

“Yes, I have been working towards many social causes. It has been a part of my life for a very long time. I was the head of NSS (National Service Scheme) in my college and was also the president of Rotaract Club in Mumbai. Now I have my own NGO that work towards assisting the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects. I give equal importance to my philanthropic work as I believe working towards the society for the betterment will only bring a change for good,” Hrishikesh signs off.