5 Things We Learned from ‘Getting Closer to Darshan Raval’

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A new documentary short film by Spotify India takes us into the life and times of pop star Darshan Raval, behind songs like “Hawa Banke,” “Asal Mein” “Mahiye Jinna Sohna” and most recently, his album Out of Control.

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

An outdoor courtyard area was Raval’s favorite practice space in the early days in Ahmedabad. The mosque known as Sarkhej Roza was the surroundings where the artist says he would sit with a guitar and play songs. It was a space of peace and clarity for Raval.

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

Raval gave it back at his first ever audition for a reality show. The show’s judges stopped him mid-song during the audition and said he lacked originality. "Probably you don't have much of a musical sense,” he recalls shooting back. He went on to make it on the basis of singing his own song, not a cover.

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

He doesn’t want to lose out on fun in search of popularity. That’s why he does things like attend a garba. Raval says, “The more life I live as a normal person, the better music I’m going to make.”

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

He’s had his share of breakdowns. Wondering how artists have often spoke about having breakdowns in their journey of becoming in-demand hitmakers, Raval said he didn’t think it would happen to him, until it did. Raval began missing his friends and family during his hectic schedule.

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

Raval and his father share in their memory of his mother, who passed away after a “severe attack.” His father reveals in the docu-short that they were on their way to a temple, to seek blessings for Raval’s 2017 song “Tera Zikr”

Photo: YouTube/Spotify India

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