A couple of months ago, singer Akriti Kakar collaborated with veteran singer Usha Uthup for a single, titled Golemale. And now, she has collaborated with singer Kumar Sanu for a track. Titled Sohbatein, the number has an ’80s vibe and it has been composed and sung by Akriti.

Ask if the reason behind such collaborations is a way to do something out of the box, and she says, “Collaborating with veterans isn’t a strategy. It’s what I think is a perfect fit and justifies not just the song, but also the presence of that legend. When Sohbatein was made, I could hear Sanu da’s voice and darte-darte I approached him. He said yes immediately. The same happened with Usha ji.”

But such experiments may or may not land well with the audience. Does she think of streaming numbers when making music? “I should, but I don’t,” responds the composer-singer, adding, “I do everything with my heart. I’ve learnt that music will either get picked up immediately and give you joy, rewards and money, or may not work at all. In both cases, you learn. There also may be a third scenario where someone someday discovers your song and it might go viral. But it’s not fair to strangle our dreams as artistes with the fear of not getting millions of views.”

Why a song with the ‘80s vibe, we ask, and Akriti says, “I’ve always been a sucker for melody. The moment I received the lyrics from Geet Sagar, I wanted to make it into a retro colour melody. I wanted it to be about love from the time of no mobile phones or internet. The idea was to make the listeners time travel with us. Another reason to take this route was to simply not do the cliche.”

Sharing the experience of being in the studio with Kumar Sanu, the singer says, “Despite being a legend, he’s a stickler for punctuality. He wrote the song in Bengali and learnt it properly. He gave so much respect and was happy to give options for lines, too. He was so quick on the mic, cracked jokes and yet made sure the job was properly done. I learnt so much from him.”