Royal start in Bollywood

Mumbai: Jasleen Royal was in class I when she played the piano for the first time. And Jasleen knew that she wanted to live surrounded by music. Her journey to be a musician started at that tender age. She has come a long way since then and is now making her Bollywood debut with Khoobsurat, where she sings the song Preet. “Preet is the only sad song in the film and is about Sonam Kapoor’s heartbreak. It’s a beautiful song and when I sang it, both Sonam and her sister Rhea Kapoor loved it. Rhea has even been tweeting that it’s her favourite song in the movie. I’m quite excited about it,” says Jasleen.

When this Delhi girl was barely 14 years old, she started teaching music to kids almost her age just so she could earn enough to buy her own instruments. “Because I wanted to be independent and financially self-reliant. Although nobody in my family has a background in music, they always stood by my decisions,” she says. Asked how she got the song in Khoobsurat, she says, “After I released Panchi ho javan, which was picked by MTV, Rhea contacted me for another project. She liked my work and wanted me to work with her. But she wasn’t quite sure where she could use my voice. Also, I’ve been a huge fan of Sneha Khanwalkar who has given some amazing tracks for films like Gangs of Wasseypur, and Love Sex aur Dhokha. So one day I just called her and told her that I love her work. And she told me that she has already heard my song and really liked it. I was overwhelmed that this person I am a huge fan of actually knows me and likes my work. And then one day, suddenly I got a call from her that she wants me to sing a song.”

There’s one more Bollywood song that she is working on, which she can’t share much about. But she does tell us that the story of how she got that song is somewhat similar. She liked the work of that particular composer and messaged him. And then she quickly clarifies, “It’s not that I just randomly message composers that I want to work with them. But sometimes, after hearing a song that really touches your heart, you feel like talking to the person and telling them how beautiful the song is. And it happens that people whose work I like happen to like my work too. Perhaps there’s a common taste that we share that’s why I liked their work in the first place.”