Nikhita Gandhi Talks ‘Dangerous’ Collaboration with Vidya Vox
Mumbai singer-songwriter was in Los Angeles two years ago to write, record and film the music video in a whirlwind week
Pop artist Nikhita Gandhi. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Pop artist Nikhita Gandhi and Indo-American artist Vidya Vox’s latest song “Dangerous” proved to them just how well they complement each other.
Gandhi says over a video call, “I think I wore all of Vidya’s jewelry.” The song – part of Vidya’s new EP Sundari – was made nearly two years ago when Gandhi visited Los Angeles, teaming up with the singer-composer and producer Shankar Tucker. Described previously as a “saucy” track by Vidya, “Dangerous” has all the makings of a quick glimpse into the unapologetic female energy that much of Sundari EP concerns itself with.
Although the video was made two years ago, the color palette and visual aesthetic seemed to have informed Vidya’s final look for Sundari. Gandhi feels proud that she could be a part of it and find a very like-minded collaborator in Vidya. “We kind of have the same temperament, even though our personalities are very different. When it comes to work ethic and creativity, we’re very similar people,” she says. Pointing to how they both adopt a hands-on, DIY ethos to music videos for their respective songs, Gandhi says she enjoys “having the canvas beyond music” to speak through, say, outfits and jewelry like they have in “Dangerous.” It helped that Vidya opened up her style accessories to Gandhi. “I think she had a lot of Indian jewelry, so I literally wore almost everything that she had with her,” Gandhi adds with a laugh.
The visual for “Dangerous” certainly gives the two-minute song a new dimension. It was one of two tracks that Vidya and Tucker had played for Gandhi when she was visiting them in Los Angeles. “She was like, ‘Do you want to hop on to this song? I feel like you really will vibe with it.’ She played this other song and I was like, ‘I love this. Can we go back to this?’” Within five minutes of the second listen to the demo, Gandhi says she’d written some lines and they found the essence of “Dangerous” in about 15 minutes. Gandhi was only there for a week, which is why they shot the music video within three days of finishing the song.
Sonically, Gandhi says she got to employ her most natural vocal tone – the alto, “bassy and husky” voice that hasn’t always been her calling card if you go by her film song catalog. It led to Vidya also trying out what Gandhi felt was a “new color.” She adds, “Vidya fits into a soprano-ish voice category. But this is a very natural sound for me.” In addition to her indie releases, Gandhi points to working on the song “Ghar” for Bollywood movie Jab Harry Met Sejal as one of the few times she came close to her “natural tone” as a singer.
With the music video for “Dangerous” out now, Gandhi is working with composer-producer Shashwat Sachdev on a folk/hip-hop track next and has also been in conversation with Bengali diaspora act Bhanga Bangla for a collaboration. “I’ve actually loved their music for the longest time, and then I wrote to them. We’ve just been in touch via Instagram,” she says.
Gandhi feels projects like “Dangerous” have been even more cherished because of the visual aesthetic she gets to put forward. It’s something she’s carrying forward to her upcoming solo releases as well. “I am working on a couple of music videos right now. I feel like nowadays, people aren’t really focusing too much on music videos, as much as just dropping audios. But there’s this itch when you have a visual representation in your head, you have to see it through with the song,” she adds.
