Singer-Songwriter Anurag Mishra Talks New Album ‘Lifafe’ and Bollywood Projects

If one had to choose to only listen to Mumbai singer-songwriter Anurag Mishra’s latest single “Dhaage,” you might find an allusion to marriage, but when you see the music video, it becomes more than evident that the song is about lifelong companionship.

Directed by Ashish Langade from the production house Three Little Words, the video for “Dhaage” is set to a wedding after-movie, complete with vows, rituals and newly found marital bliss. For Mishra, it was serendipitous that his friend and professional doctor Tanaya had heard an earlier version of the song and felt she could send it out to her hundreds of thousands of online followers. Mishra says, “She wanted to help me take my music to a lot more people. She has been married recently and I just asked if she would be okay with us exploring her wedding footage for an original song. She really jumped on this idea and fully supported my team in executing this music video. I am really fortunate that ‘Dhaage’ found Tanaya.”

Where his 2019 album Project Swa was delving into “subconscious emotions,” Lifafe is based on love. Prior to “Dhaage,” Mishra released “Khwaab” and has four more songs coming up. “I mean to communicate that every song in this album is like an envelope that contains love within itself (‘Lifafe’ means ‘envelopes’ in Urdu). I am exploring the sensitive, dreamy side of my music in the six songs of the album.” While “Khwaab” was produced by Hrishi Girdhar (from rock act Anand Bhaskar Collective), “Dhaage” was produced and features guitars by Vaibhav Pani. Producer Prasanna Suresh also features on the album. “The overall sound is dreamy, grand and organic. The poetry is relatable and hummable. I have tried to make the songs memorable by keeping engaging choruses,” Mishra adds.

Where “Dhaage” was about marriage, Mishra’s next single “Bayaan” is about a proposal of marriage between a couple. “Of course, with a twist,” he adds. There’s an “extravagant” music video expected as well. Mishra adds about the rest of Lifafe, “There is ‘Aur Kya’ which shows a journey of self-love of a successful person who has followed her passion over the years. Then comes ‘Sargoshi’ which is a story of a couple that is narrated through dance. At last, there is a solo version of ‘Aur Kya’ whose theme I want to keep as a surprise.”

In tandem with Lifafe, the artist has a few other projects coming up, including a gig as a lyricist on a song for actor R. Madhavan’s directorial venture Rocketry (releasing in July this year). As a composer, he’s worked on five songs for the forthcoming Bollywood film called Karma Strikes. Mishra adds, “I have also got clear in my vision as an artist, that this year I just want to put out as much music as I can without expecting any dividends.”

Watch the video for “Khwaab” below.