For a typical netizen scrolling through Instagram reels, it’s hard to escape tracks like Gul or Husn sung in Anuv Jain’s warm voice. Also known for hits such as Baarishein and Alag Aasmaan, his music brings an immediate familiarity. You may often pause and think, ‘Oh yeah… that reminds me of…’
Because for Jain, the feeling always comes first, and that philosophy has given rise to some of the most-loved independent tracks in recent years – with lyrics often feeling like pages torn straight from a diary. “I have always felt that technically music should be beautiful, but at the same time, it should not take away the feeling of a song because that’s key,” he says, speaking with CE ahead of his recent performance as a part of his Dastakhat tour at Pheonix Marketcity, Whitefield.
And that intimacy in his work comes from a deep personal writing process. “Everything that I’ve written is a true story – heartbreaks I’ve been through, heartbreaks around me, the love I’ve received, the difficulties we’ve gone through as a family – all of those inspire me,” he confesses, yet stating that there is no attempt to dramatise pain or polish vulnerability. As his life has evolved, so has his songwriting, as he adds, “As you grow older, you keep adding these stories to your life and become mature. From that initial, school-level love, it turns into something deeper, especially now that I’ve gotten married. With that maturity, you start experimenting more with the way you write and begin defining your writing style and musicality more clearly.”
A key milestone in Jain’s journey was performing Arz Kiya Hai on Coke Studio Bharat Season 3, produced by Lost Stories. “Rishabh from Lost Stories (musical duo) is a very good friend of mine. When I got the chance to work on the song, he was the first person I thought of because I knew how I wanted it to sound,” he shares. Together, they refined the structure and sonic elements, moulding what later became a defining moment in his career.
Despite his growing career, Jain shares that there is no calculated strategy behind his work. “Some artistes have a maximalist approach. I have a minimal approach. I always let my songwriting shine. There’s no decision really – it comes naturally. It’s just my taste,” he smiles. He believes that this minimalism in simplicity is precisely why listeners connect so strongly to his music. “You can have the simplest chords and still move somebody beautifully. And you can have the most complicated chords, but if what you’re saying isn’t relatable, it kind of falls flat,” he adds.
With growing fame, however, has come scrutiny, and Jain owns up to that he didn’t always handle criticism well. “There are two types – constructive and nasty. I love the former, if someone teaches me how to improve, trust me, the next morning I’ll wake up and start working on it. But if it’s just nasty criticism about what I look like or who I am… I can’t do anything about that,” he says.
Fresh off his performance in the city, Jain is now looking at the larger emotional arc of his tour trilogy – Dastakein, Gul Dasta and Dastakhat. “Dastakein was basically a knock into somebody’s life, into my audience’s life. Whereas Gul Dasta was the present that I gave to them,” he says. But Dastakhat – what began as intimate city runs is now expanding dramatically, he says, “This one is actually a 10-country tour, instead of a 10-city one. I’m going to be gone for like 10 months. So this show is a final signature that I’m doing before I sign-off.”