Album needs lot of maturity: Darshan Raval

By Natalia Ningthoujam

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Singer-composer Darshan Raval, former participant of singing-based reality show "India's Raw Star", unveiled three singles this year, but says he is not ready to come up with an album as that needs maturity.

"An album needs a lot of maturity. It's a lot about his (the singer's life). I will do an album probably after two or three years," Raval, 23, told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

He is ending the year with sad love song "Tera zikr".

"It took seven months to create it. If you believe in love, the first important rule is that you will get hurt," he said.

"I want to dedicate this song to my mother. Four days before its release, she passed away. The song is very special to me," he added.

"Tera zikr", which released last week, has been viewed 7,185,961 times on YouTube and received 1,91,640 likes. The track has in fact got more likes than "Ek dil ek jaan" from the much-awaited Deepika Padukone-starrer "Padmavati". The Bollywood song managed to get only 1,49,012 likes.

"I never think about my songs reaching six or seven million or getting thousands of likes while making them. But it's a good feeling. The connection that I have with the song, now the one who listens to it, has it," said the "Ye baarish" hitmaker.

So, is the digital platform the best way to become a star?

"Whatever you are doing, you should give 100 per cent to it. Passion and hardwork will make you a star in any field. If my content is not good, no one will listen to me. The digital platform is easy. Anybody can use it, but it's your content that people should appreciate so that they can follow you," he said.

In the video of "Tera zikr", the model leaves him for choosing photography as a profession. Is that the case in his real life too?

"That basically happens with all the artistes. We have that 'doctor mentality' so girls leave artistes," said the singer, who claims to be single.

Asked about his interest in love songs, he said: "Love is a pure emotion. Whether it is love for friends, girlfriend, wife, parents ... life is surrounded by love. It is so important."

He often mentions how singer-composer Himesh Reshammiya helped him out to make a career in the industry. Any more projects together?

"Yeah. I go to the studio and record different songs. He never tells me which song he is keeping. The first song that I recorded for him was for 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'. I had no clue whom I was singing for. Later, I got to know that my debut was with a Salman Khan-starrer. That was surprising," said Raval.

Apart from working with Reshammiya, he has more songs lined up with composers Sachin-Jigar and Mithoon.

What else should his fans expect from him in the coming year?

"Nothing is decided. Once 'Tera zikr' reaches out to a larger audience, then I will move on to the next song. Concerts will also start in 2018," he said.

The Hindi single will also release in Gujarati and Bengali.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)