MUMBAI: T-Series Mixtape Punjabi’s ninth episode was a magical one with soulful singer Harshdeep Kaur and Sufi legend Hans Raj Hans taking it to the next level. The two performed on songs Challa and Ni Mai Kamli.

Interestingly, this was not just the audiences favourite episode this far, it’s also Mixtape’s music arranger-composer Abhijit Vaghani’s favourite episode. He put his heart and soul into creating the song. The best part of this Mixtape journey for Abhijit was the natural placement of events.  

“Every season I have a start track, last season was Sun Raha Hain Na Tu by Shreya Ghoshal and this season, its Challa and Ni Main Kamli,” said the composer.

On the recreation of this song Abhijit says, “I produce the track and then a layer of instruments come on the top. While, making this episode, I was preparing a scratch on music in a combination of a dholki and dholak. While listening to it I realised why not create a track that takes dholak and dholki forward with a few changes within. The two songs luckily fell into similar musical and lyrical tone with a background of the folk song.”

The song was shot in six hours while it took two days to be prepared. “Generally each episode has around two-three takes. The audio is always separately recorded, just in case the artiste misses a beat or forgets something during the video shoot. So, we generally have a separate audio with the entire band,” added Vaghani.

Check the song below:

This is the second episode of the same season where Hans Raj has featured. Abhijit had an amazing experience working with the legend. He said, “Hans Raj ji has been such a delight, he is so humble. Each legendary person has his own fancy and this man is adjusting, understanding, sober and simple on the set.”

The composer was sure to have Harshdeep Kaur for this particular episode. He believes she is the best Punjabi folk singers around. Harshdeep will not be featured in this season again but surely in every season of Mixtape.

“We had shot an episode with Hans Raj ji but he suited the tone of the next episode very well, so we featured him again. We first tried him in the studio and he fitted in so well with his deep tones with Harshdeep’s melo-smoothy tone so it made a lot of sense,” said the composer.

“Before Hans Raj ji we tried Akhil Sachdeva and Jashan but the personality and aura that Hans Raj ji brought along with his voice made a difference,” Vaghani ended.

Sharing her excitement on Mixtape, singer Harshdeep Kaur comments, "I'm really glad to be part of Punjabi edition as it is my mother tongue.  The songs we are performing are folk Punjabi songs which will be presented in a very modern arrangement. I'm sure everybody will love it as it is already in the loop on my playlist. I have shared the stage with Hans Raj Hans in past for live shows and concerts. But it is the very first time that I have collaborated with him on a song. Featuring in a video with such a legendary artist is a big honour."

Maestro Hans Raj Hans comments, “It is a great feeling to sing a duet with Harshdeep Kaur. We have done shows together in the past and collaborating for Mixtape Punjabi is great. It is a nostalgic feeling for me working with T-Series on these songs and reviving them for today’s audience.”

The next season would either be Mixtape of Hindi songs one a Sufi one revealed Abhijit