Singer Brijesh Shandilya, best known for rendering Banno Tera Swagger from Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015), has no qualms about admitting that the Coronavirus lockdown was hard for him in all aspects. “It was a tough phase, not just for me, but for almost all musicians. It was a challenging time, creatively as well as financially. It came as a huge setback,” he says, adding that things became really tough, monetarily: “Our industry was the most affected during the lockdown. Even for big-budget films, I was paid amounts of a small film. I took up online gigs during the lockdown to keep myself going, creatively and financially.”

Ask Shandilya what he did to stay creatively sane during the challenging phase and he tells us, “To keep myself sane, I started working on my craft. I never got frustrated or depressed with the situation. I connected with a lot of people, worked on my cooking skills and took care of my health. I also worked on independent music and made close to 25 singles. Around seven of them will be releasing soon.”

The singer, who’s also known for rendering some groovy numbers like the Golmaal Again Title Track, Rocket Saiyyan from Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017), Trippy Trippy from Bhoomi (2017) and Mushkil Hai Apna Meil Priye from Mukkabaaz (2017), is excited about his new track, Kheench Te Nach, from Ayushmann Khurrana’s upcoming film, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. “It’s quite different from all my previous songs. It’s my first rap number, which I’d recorded almost three years ago,” the singer ends.