Singing and dancing have been an important essence in Indian films, and while songs are a driving force in every film’s story, even the Indian music industry is oozing with talent. In fact, there are many singers who stir our souls with their magical voices, and standing out from the crowd is singer Benny Dayal who has not only crooned songs in many popular films but has also been a strong force to reckon with, in the music industry. In an exclusive interview with Instafeed, the singer shares his journey to being a music maven, and his aspirations to play a baddie in Bollywood. Read on.

What was the idea behind creating a song like ‘Jee Le’ during the Corona crisis?

First of all, let me clarify that this song has been composed by Rajeev Bhalla, I have just sung it. And this song was very important at a time like this when we are dealing with a pandemic like the Corona Virus. Since every has been frustrated staying at home and everything has come to a halt, Rajeev wrote this song to bring some joy in everyone’s life. When he read the song to me, I loved it and thought this is the need of the hour. I am glad to be a part of this song.

When did you decide to be a singer?

When I was 5-years-old, my father brought me a cassette of Michael Jackson. Seeing that I got very happy and I learned how to dance. Since then there was a desire in me to do something like this. When I was in the 9th standard, I was going somewhere and that day the Dil Se album had released, listening to that song, I felt that this was something different and spectacular. That is when I realized that music is going to far and I asked myself what do I want to do? The answer was music, since that day I surrendered myself to music.

While we have seen a lot of singers try their hand at acting, do you also have similar plans?

Yes, I want to play the role of a psycho villain who is crazy about music and he can only be defeated with music. In movies, heroes don’t have any value without a villain. It is very important to have problems in life, and in order to find yourself, losing yourself is important too. 

With the craze for western music increasing day by day, has classical music lost its sheen?

I feel not too much, but yes, a little bit. In fact, I believe that technology has also had an impact on classical music. Nowadays, people don’t wish to learn music, they want to heavily rely on technology. They feel that the little they know is enough, the rest the system will handle, hence they don’t want to waste time in learning music. Rather, they want to learn about the technology on the system.  

You have sung songs in a lot of languages, which style and language is your personal favorite?

You have asked a very tough question and to answer this is even tougher, it is like asking a father who is his favorite child. But to answer your question, let me tell you I love the song Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayi from the film Ghajini. 

Written by Nawaz Kochra