Party songs are always in demand: Fazilpuria

Singer and rapper Fazilpuria talks about his award-winning party anthem chull, Haryanvi music giving competition to Punjabi folk, latest music trends in Bollywood, and more.

For those tapping their feet to the party anthem ‘Ladki beautiful, kar gayi chull’ Fazilpuria is a name to reckon with. He released the track in 2013, which made its way to the film Kapoor & Sons (starring Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt), and further added to this young singer’s popularity. Not just this, the foot-thumping number recently bagged the ‘Best Song of the Year’ at a popular awards night. We catch up with the singer and rapper Fazilpuria, aka Rahul Yadav, who gets chatty about the changing face of music in Bollywood, his journey so far and how Haryanvi music is giving a tough competition to Punjabi folk.

Hailing from a small village called Fazilpur near Gurugram, Fazilpuria adopted his stage name to bring his native place to the forefront. “I studied in a private school in Gurugram and other students in the school would often maintain a distance because of the language I spoke. However, I wasn’t ashamed of my mother tongue (Haryanvi), and that’s when I decided to proudly stand by my village and language. While making a career in the music industry, I decided to stay true to my roots and went ahead with a stage name (Fazilpuria) to promote my village on a global scale,” shares the 26-year-old singer.

Currently, there is a trend of borrowed hits (be it singles or popular hits from the past) in Bollywood. From Amar Arshi’s ’90s chartbuster Kala Chashma to Saturday Saturday borrowed from a Indeep Bakshi-Badshah release and Fazilpuria’s Chull taken from an already released track — the trend is here to stay, feels the singer. “I am happy that my track Chull was picked up by Dharma Productions for their movie Kapoor & Sons. It is a great trend for independent singers like me as it helps us connect with a wider audience and gives the right push to our songs. While penning the lyrics of my song or working on the videos for my tracks, I always have the audience that loves to groove on Bollywood style music, in my mind,” says the singer who in the past has given party hits like 2 many girls and Party by Fazilpuria.

According to Fazilpuria, Haryanvi songs are yet to go mainstream in Bollywood unlike Punjabi tracks that have gained wide acceptance among listeners. He elaborates, “I am glad with the response that Chull has garnered. There was a time when nobody liked listening to Haryanvi music. But singers like Yo Yo Honey Singh and Badshah have made Haryanvi style music popular. In the past, Haryana has mostly been associated with Khap panchayats and honour killings. However, of late, there has been a series of Bollywood films that have shown the brighter side of Haryana. Be it Kangana Ranaut’s Kusum Sangwan character in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Randeep Hooda’s Laal Rang or Salman Khan-starrer Sultan, Haryana is catching everyone’s fancy in Bollywood.”

No Bollywood movie is complete without a party song, believes Fazilpuria. “I want to stick to party tracks and singles because that is what the younger audience likes listening to. When they’ll ask for soulful Sufi or sad tracks, I’ll give them that. Peppy party songs are always in demand in Bollywood,” he says.

Asserting on the need for high quality videos accompanying soundtracks. “I personally like experimenting with my videos. For instance, one of my tracks Party was shot on the beautiful beaches of Thailand with over 550 models. The video boasted of a lot of VFX effects,” says the singer who is set to release his next single Jimmy Choo, a party number with Haryanvi folk given a modern twist.