Arijit Singh: Lesser known facts

Well, what’s common about every second or third upcoming Hindi film? It features a song sung by Arijit Singh. Yes, this is how the young musician from Murshidabad has brought revolution in the Hindi music scene. Arijit Singh is clearly the king of Hindi music these days with most of his songs topping the charts. And as far as the songs go, the man does deserve the tag. Today, as he celebrates his 28th birthday, we list out some lesser known facts about Arijit Singh…

Arijit Singh was one of the participants of singing reality show, Fame Gurukul (2005), wherein he could not even manage to be among the Top 5. Although, Arijit was one of the most loved singers on the show, he ended up at 6th position. During the elimination episode, another contestant, Qazi Touqeer (who went on to win the competition later) had said that Arijit goes too much into the song and that its feel gets lost. However, one of the judges on the show, Shankar Mahadevan, had called Arijit Singh as one of the best singers on the show and had promised to give him work, which he actually did after the show.

Much before becoming a playback singer, Arijit Singh worked as a music programmer for noted music directors of Bollywood including Pritam Chakraborty, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar and Mithoon. Arijit told in an interview that it was the only way for him to survive in Mumbai. He would also sing scratch versions of various songs during his days of working with Pritam. The music director later gave Arijit many songs in various films he was working on.

There is a lot of confusion regarding Arijit Singh’s debut song as a playback singer. Well, it was ‘Phir mohabbat…’ from Murder 2, which he had sung in 2009, two years before the release of the song. In an interview with Forbesindia.com, Arijit revealed that he had forgotten about the song and that it was a friend of his who told him that the song had released.

In 2013, Arijit Singh made appearances sporting a long-haired and bearded look. About the look, the soulful singer reasoned that he does not get time to cut his hair or shave when he is in Mumbai. In an interview with The Times of India, Arijit called himself a horrible looking guy and that he does not care about it.

Arijit Singh is married to his childhood friend, Koel Roy. Reportedly, Koel has a baby girl from her previous marriage and the child is apparently very fond of Arijit. The singer, too, was married earlier. The wedding of the two was a private affair owing to Arijit’s media-shy nature.

In an interview with Forbesindia.com, Arijit Singh said that he did not join the world of music with an intention of becoming famous but because he loves doing music. Arijit is a simple and grounded person and was asked in an interview if he had bought himself a car with the first paycheck, to which he had reacted saying, “Car? What car? I still don't have a car. I still travel by public transport. I take autos to travel to and fro for recordings. When in Calcutta, I take a train to go to Murshidabad and then take a cycle rickshaw to my house.”