MUMBAI: Aanchal Shrivastava, who dreamt of becoming a playback artiste, began with her participation in reality shows like 'Indian Idol', 'Fame X' and 'Super Singers’. However, she got her rise to fame with songs of ‘Love Games’ and ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’. Today, she has released a brand new song ‘Meri Maa’ for Mother’s Day.

Aanchal Shrivastava is the first female singer to sing a song with a transgender. As mother's love is absolutely pure and unconditional, ‘Meri Maa' is a dedication to every mother who is away from her child.

Speaking about it, Aanchal Shrivastava expressed, “I was in the middle of planning a song (original) for 'Mother's Day', while me and Bilal the lyricist were already brainstorming on the ideas, Vicks ad came in... And I got to know about Gauri. I immediately connected with her and checked if she would be keen to meet. Firstly I wanted her to only feature in my video, but when I met her, got to know about her story (a transgender activist’s story) - how they are forced to live away from their mothers and have no acceptance. I thought my song has to be about this. I got her to sing in this one... She was damn reluctant, but somehow I got her into it. I think a transgender's voice in my song is a cherry on the cake.”

The song is composed by Anudutt M Shamain, penned by Bilal Hasan. Male vocals and harmony are by Sakar Apte along with Aanchal Shrivastava and Gauri Sawant's singing.

“Gauri is a fantastic person. In fact, through her, I spent a lot of time with transgenders and I feel, if I can help them in the struggle for acceptance somehow, I’ll be really really glad. This song is a dedication from my end to every mother who is somewhere away from her child,” added Aanchal.

Listen to the track here: