Shilpi Sampad (MID-DAY; February 3, 2017)

"When she walked into the studio, we were hoping to get her to do a fair job at the least, leave the rest to us,” recounts Sachin Sanghvi, one half of music composer duo Sachin-Jigar, about Parineeti Chopra, who recently recorded her first Bollywood song. “But when she went behind the mic, we knew we wouldn’t need the help of technology.”

The actress plays a singer in her next, Meri Pyaari Bindu, co-starring Ayushmann Khurrana, and decided to attempt playback for an “unusual” track. “It is about a sweet agreement between two lovers who are parting, and carries the narrative forward. She sings for both, the guy and girl,” Sachin shares.

Although Parineeti is trained in Indian classical music, crooning for a film’s track called for flair and flourish. “She has sung bits for the film’s background score too. But for a full-fledged song, we decided to put her into a routine, where she had to devote at least an hour daily for riyaaz with us. That continued for over a month. Even when we weren’t available, she would do it on her own. Initially, she was scared about pulling it off, but with more practice and jamming, she grew confident,” reveals Sachin.

Unlike most cases, where actors turn singers for a lark, Parineeti was made to sing because it was central to the film’s story and her character, argues Sachin. “It’s not a gimmick. She has the dubbing experience, so she got the tonal expressions right. And since she is an actor, getting into the mood of the song was no big deal. Eventually, it was her preparation that impressed us. It [recording] was over in three hours flat. For someone who has never done playback, I think that’s quite something.”