In 2009, an 18-year-old girl graced the India's Got Talent stage, strumming Phir Dekhiye from Rock On with a guitar and mouth organ. Today, 14 years later, that same girl is a musical luminary topping charts with original compositions, with her songs trending all over social media. The girl, Jasleen Royal, is now all grown up and there’s no way anyone can ignore her.
Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18 Royal said her journey was not always easy being an outsider in the industry. But now, after seeing the response from her fans, it all feels worth it.
"I remember not having any references in the music industry. I had to start from scratch, where it was difficult for me to meet ends, pay rent, or even travel to meetings. But this city has given me a lot of success, and the credit goes to all those who have been a part of my journey, especially my fans and audience, who supported me ever since I began. Today, having reached this level, I feel that all the struggles were worth the hard work," said Royal.
Every composition of mine has taught me something
The singer, songwriter and music composer started her journey in indie music with her song Panchi Hojavan which won the Best Indie Song at the MTV Video Music Awards India 2013. Talking about her compositions Royal said, "A lot of people say that Heeriye has been my life-changing song while others say that Ranjha is the one. But I think that every composition of mine has taught me something or the other and had its impact on my career, no matter how big or small. Even the projects that didn’t work well did wonders as they allowed me to meet such amazing people in the industry, inspiring me to work more extensively,"
Sharing an instance from her life with actor Irrfan Khan, Royal recalled how the actor called her and praised her after she uploaded her first song on YouTube on a near zero budget.
"He invited me to his place when he was hosting a musical night, where he treated me extremely well and comforted me with his words of wisdom. He assured me saying that I shouldn’t worry about anything and just keep working on my art and I’ll soon reach the height of success. His words have stayed with me throughout my journey, and here I am, working with Babil. It has been a great journey and I feel that I have such a beautiful connection with them," she added.
So what is Jasleen Royal's approach towards making new music? "It can be mirroring the phase of my life I am in. It also depends on the kind of conversation I’m having with people around me. Like Ranjha was about best friend’s heart break. It was overwhelming to see her go through so much pain that I ended up writing a song on it," she added.
The queen of wedding anthems
If you have attended any wedding in the past few years then it would have been hard to miss Jasleen Royal's Din Shagna Da, Heeriye, Nachde Ne Saare or Ranjha, which she specifically made for the Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra wedding. Royal has now released her latest single titled Dastoor, where she was seen opposite Babil Khan.
On her songs being appreciated during weddings, Royal said it makes her very happy that people connect with her songs in such emotion-filled occasions.
"I look forward to people dancing to the tunes of my latest song, Dastoor, expressing their emotions through it, sharing smiles and tears, and anything and everything that comes to their hearts. This song has all the emotions that individuals, couples and families experience on such occasions. I would love Dastoor to be a part of everyone’s big day and add a touch of comfort to their feelings," she added.
Relatability and giving your 200%
When it comes to her songs they have been topping the charts, her song Heeriye, which featured actor Dulquer Salmaan shot to the top of Spotify’s Daily India charts and stayed there for nearly a month. After the music video was released, it became the global #1 music video on YouTube within days.
But that's the thing with almost all of her songs — take Ranjha, Love You Zindagi, Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan, Nachne De Saare, Din Shagna Da, and Sang Rahiyo, all were chart-topping hits.
"There is no secret to the popularity, except for the fact that I just try to give my 200% to everything or every song that I work on. It is also the tireless efforts and support of my team that do not give up on me," said Royal.
Remembering her experience with Heeriye, she said she had mentioned more than 20 mixes, but her engineers didn’t give up because they knew that she wanted the best to reach her fans.
"Some songs have surprised me with the popularity they’ve reached, like Sang Rahiyo, which is still on the top on Apple. Music keeps dropping every day, and it’s an independent song without any marketing budget. It still stands among the top charts, and that makes me happy to know that people actually like my compositions and that my music is being accepted widely," she added.
Talking about how she felt about her songs going viral, Royal said she should have felt happy, but she went blank instead.
"People always ask me how I felt when Ranjha or Heeriye turned out to be chartbusters. But, to be frank, I don’t know. I was completely blank when I should’ve enjoyed the feeling. It kind of gives me butterflies about what should I do next to raise the bar and deliver even better. Perhaps it’s my way of not letting success get on my nerves," added Royal.
The power of social media
When it comes to songs going viral, social media holds a lot of importance. That is the reason why a lot of old songs have now gained prominence as they have been repeatedly being used in Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts.
This was also seen in a global study from agency ContraBrand, which works on TikTok campaigns for a variety of artists. It analysed tracks in TikTok’s Top 200 chart that went on to do more than one million Spotify streams, and claimed that 63.8% of them went viral purely on the strength of “organic posting by the artist and other TikTok users” rather than influencer campaigns or paid ads.
Talking about the role of social media in the music industry, Royal said: "Social media has played a huge role in skyrocketing my career. I started uploading my compositions on YouTube, and that brought great responses from viewers. As a result, I’ve been constantly active on YouTube and sharing my compositions as I get a lot of creative freedom on the platform to decide what kind of videos I wish to work on or what genres I would love to associate myself with. I’m really glad that such great artists are collaborating with me, such as Dulquer and Babil. This encourages me, and I feel like doing better with every art piece, knowing that my viewers are fond of my music," she added.
Additionally, talking about her future projects, she said, "All I can tell you right now is that the craze is gonna hit highs as my upcoming projects will be bigger and bigger. There are multiple things in the pipeline, and I’m looking forward to several releases in the coming year.”
