Shashaa Tirupati, Shivam Mahadevan and Sid Paul Bring Bulleh Shah to Modern Audiences

Look closely and you’d see that India is experiencing a ‘back to roots’ creative moment right now. Amidst the cutting-edge precision of modern-day music-making that may just be a little too obsessed with beats, there is emerging, once again, a raw core that values the unhurried craft of musicianship and lyricism. Breakout musicians Shashaa Tirupati, Shivam Mahadevan and Sid Paul’s newest offering “Ik Raanjha” carries that soft core of subtly and emotional impact. Composed by Tirupati, the song unravels the beauty of poet-mystic Bulleh Shah’s verses even as it hooks you with its sprightly production. In this interview, the musician discusses the process of creating this rather unique song.

Congratulations on “Ik Raanjha.” What propelled you all to choose this beautiful poetry from Bulleh Shah?

Shashaa Tirupati: There’s a ring to the phonetics of the kalaam that naturally guided the composition. That’s keeping aside the beauty of the meaning behind the lyrics, one line particularly stating how the only distinction between Ahad and Ahmad is that of one letter (“m”).cTo want to choose Baba Bulleh Shah’s poetry was to bring our rich tradition to the fore midst everything else we are doing.

Shivam Mahadevan: “Ik Raanjha” is Shashaa’s baby as she chose the poetry and it was her composition as well. She has a beautiful story behind the making of this enchanting melody. The first time I was made to hear this harmonious composition and beautiful lyrics, I was totally addicted to the hook line “Ik Raanjha.” YThat harkat of “Ik Raanjha” is so uniquely beautiful and will stay in your head and you can’t help humming it on loop.

Sid Paul: Thanks so much. The entire credit goes to Shashaa for that. She composed the melody while reading through Baba Bulleh Shah’s work.

How did the collaboration between you three come about?

Shashaa: I’d played the composition to Sid Paul, an exuberant music producer I’d worked with on “Siyaahii” Ft. Papon and “Raat” in the past, besides our association of many cover songs over the years. He took an immediate liking to the melody and came on board almost instantly. I’d then played the first draft of the track to  Shivam, considering how much I dug the unpretentiousness in his vocals, very apt to the natural rendition I’d visualized in my mind for Ik Raanjha, and the moment he took to the song, we knew it was time to give it our all. And everyone did.

Shivam: I’ve always looked forward to working with Shashaa and I was so happy that she had Sid on board as he’s a brilliant producer. I’ve waited for a collaboration with Shashaa as I am such a big fan of hers and so happy we three S’s SSS could do this together!

Sid: Shashaa sent me the melody and I was instantly hooked onto it. I could intuitively sense that I wanna produce this one and then she got in Shivam who nailed it with his singing prowess.

What are your hopes and aspirations with this particular collab? How do you want listeners to receive this offering, especially in this social media age where attention spans are declining to a few seconds now?

Shashaa: Our song makes its point within a limited span of time too! (Haha). I feel the amalgamation of the production along with Shivam’s rendition of the melody catches the listener’s attention from the get go, right from the first line of the song. In terms of reception, we would love for our listeners, and new audiences equally, to open their hearts to our rich tradition, sound, heritage and writing that’s somehow gotten subdued amidst the clutter of everything else.

Shivam: People just need to accept the different genres of music. As creative individuals, we only want to put out stuff, try and explore different genres so people know the creative aspects of us as musicians. We cannot speculate whether people will accept our song or not or the reaction. But because of the different platforms available now, we have the opportunity to put out good music. We are very happy with the response to this diaspora of blending Punjabi folk music with contemporary new production. I wouldn’t call it a challenge but there’s a lot of hope and anxiety.

Sid: I just hope it reaches the masses and they love it. The track has a short duration going with the current times plus keeping it apt as per the song.

As millennial and Gen Z musicians who work in both mainstream and niche sectors of the creative industry, what are the biggest changes in the scene you have witnessed lately?

Shashaa: The fact that we’re opening up exponentially to ‘doing our own thing’ is a mindset that’s coming as such a relief post so much creative stagnation just a short while back. We’re individually and collectively growing. That’s the advent of something path-breaking.

Shivam: I feel in the mainstream sector of the creative industry right now the biggest changes are for the good. Earlier songs had to be popular only through movies but now people are releasing music independently and putting it out on social media where people watch and listen to it. Audiences have always supported good music and new music and there are so many platforms to share our music.

Sid: That there are no more boundaries and everything/everyone seems to be staying afloat together. No zero-sum game.

What are the biggest challenges that you face as creative professionals in India today, and what can we do as a people to make this nation more conducive to art and creativity?

Shashaa: We need more believers in our vision! Believers who can gauge the truth and find value in honest art and catapult its exposure and visibility beyond individual capacities. These ‘believers’ can range anywhere from agencies that can facilitate placing an artists’ work on global platforms to publications like yourself that bring new music and commendable art to the fore to audiences that avidly consume and share their work. The point is to direct more attention towards non-mainstream endeavors as well.

Shivam: We have released this song independently without the support of any label so our only expectation is that people love the song. We want people to fall in love with the melody, fall in love with the production and of-course our voices.

Sid: The biggest challenge is to stay focused on your track and compete with yourself. Social media makes us compare ourselves which is eventually a delusion and the ground reality is that you need to only aim for the best in you.

Do you feel AI challenges creativity or aids it?

Shashaa: AI is like fire imo. If used wisely, it’s a brilliant tool. If not, it could be degenerative for creators.

Shivam: AI aids creativity because of the different marketing platforms.

The various social media platforms have created options for musicians to share their music. I feel now there is more and more space for our music and AI really helps putting our music out to our audiences.

Sid: It aids to it if used the right way.

Will we get to see more collabs from you three soon?

Shashaa: Let me write a new melody and see what the other two have to say. Lol.

Shivam: Yes I am extremely excited to work with the two of them again. They’re so talented and I can’t wait for our next one! We will be doing different stuff and different genres and hopefully it will be even more exciting the next time.

Sid: Of course I would love to get back in the studio with these two.