HYDERABAD: Meet Poojan Kohli, who’ll surprise you not just with his fluent Telugu but also his melodious voice. Poojan, a Tollywood singer who debuted with Adivi Sesh’s KISS in 2013, shot to fame with the hit number from Kshanam, Pada Pada Pranama. While he has been making his mark in Telugu cinema, his thirst for music wouldn’t end here. “I was a part of a fusion band earlier and my interest always lied in all forms and mediums besides just films,” says Poojan who last year released a Punjabi single called Chal Maahiya. All set to release his newest Indie single, Dil Haara, Poojan is super excited. Mostly so because the music video is set entirely in Hyderabad.
“We travelled through the streets of Old City, Charminar, Chintalbasthi and Srinagar Colony to capture real emotions and authenticity of the city,” shares the 26-year-old. Directed by Mallik Ram, who also is the director of Tollywood film, Naruda Donaruda, the video traces the journey of a one rupee coin from a kid’s hand and how it touches and affects anyone who it reaches.
“The video features me singing my lines with Saket Sane, the composer playing the guitar, interspersed with the journey of the coin,” says Poojan adding “All the characters that are featured in the video are real. We actually shot kids who were flying a kit in the basthi and made them do their part in their video. Same goes for the beggar or the shopkeeper.”
As Poojan shares, the song is all about Sufi love. Written by Akshay Shinde, the lines of the song speak of how when you connect to a greater power, you lose your heart to it. With the backdrop of little happinesses that the rupee coin brings to the people it reaches, the music video will be a feel-good treat shares Poojan.
Shot at a bootstrap budget, Dil Haara was not intended to be an independent song at all. “We (Sanket and I) made the song many years ago when I was in Mumbai trying my luck with movies there. We made the song for films initially because of the popularity that films had as compared to independent music then. But as fate has it we ended up making a music video much like the 90s pop music video,” shares the singer.
Heavily influenced by the 90s music as Poojan admits the music video was intended to invoke that kind of an emotion. “We all grew up to independent music like that of Euphoria, Bombay Vikings etc. That influence has been there on us since we were children. Even the music video we made for Pada Pada Pranama on our own account also has the same flavour. I always wanted to venture into the independent music arena eventually but I guess I didn’t expect this song to be it,” admits Poojan.
Set to release today on the T Series Youtube channel, the teaser of the same has garnered quite some love. “I look forward to creating original independent music in Telugu as well. That is an area that has barely been touched upon. I hope to make a difference in that space as well,” says Poojan signing off. The singer Now has a romantic number lined up in Raj Tarun’s next film.