Ankit Tiwari was recently in Lucknow. Charting a successful journey from Kanpur to Mumbai, in an exclusive chat with us, the Sun Raha Hai Na Tu singer reminisced about the festival of Holi and the wild celebrations they have in his hometown Kanpur.

Ankit shared, “We used to have a big aluminium tub where we would mix all the different colours and anyone who used to pass from our lane had to stop and take a dip in that tub. Chahe jo bhi insaan ho. Kanpur’s Holi has a different whole vibe and colour to it.”

Ankit went on to add, “Back when we used to play Holi in Kanpur, we would rub black colour on our teeth and our friends’ too which used to be so much fun.”

Ankit has lived in Mumbai for the past 15–16 years. When asked how it feels to celebrate Holi in Mumbai, the Tu Hai Ki Nahi singer shared, “The celebrations are almost the same everywhere. Even in Mumbai we go for Holika dehen. But in UP the festival doesn’t end, it goes on and on. Meanwhile, in Mumbai, there is a time till which people play Holi, and then the post-Holi party starts but for UP, yahan hoti hai huddang wali Holi. Holi ka mazaa UP mein hi aata hai!”

Talking about his journey so far, Ankit shared about the moment when he felt he had finally carved his name in the music industry. “Everybody began to know me after Aashiqui 2. I remember eating pani puri on the streets of Mumbai after the release of Aashiqui 2, where I was standing along with a group of girls and boys. They were talking in front of me about the songs from the movie and saying ‘Bahot achha gaan hai. Kaun hai ye jisne gaya hai, etc’. And I was hearing them praise my compositions and really enjoyed that moment.”

Known for his romantic songs , Ankit said he is now experimenting with other genres in his compositions and singing. “Ab toh saare genre tootenge. Now I am going to try different genres in my own compositions.”