BTS fans on Instagram have been treated to all kinds of edits all the time. While some fan edits reimagine BTS members in different comical situations, there are others who find joy in watching edited videos showing the members grooving to Indian songs. Case in point: the viral Chunari Chunari edit. However, recently, BTS fans in India were presented with something that was beyond their imagination — BTS members singing songs in Hindi.
If you’ve been on Instagram in the last two weeks, you’d come across videos of BTS members Jungkook and V aka Kim Taehyung singing in Hindi. Both the members are singing two romantic Hindi tracks and no kidding, it is indeed their voices. These edits are the brainchild of Anshuman Sharma, a musician and producer. The Delhi-based music composer, who was an intern with composer Salim Merchant, revealed to News18 how the idea of making BTS members sing in Hindi came to him, his dream collaboration and his work in Bollywood. Here’s an edited excerpt from the conversation:
How did the idea of making such edits cross your mind?
It was just a random idea. I saw people singing Hindi versions of songs and I was like, why not make the artist sing it? That was just a very random idea that came to me. It started with Drake, then I did one for The Weeknd and one for Justin Bieber. I kept getting requests from BTS fans because I had done some covers before. I had posted one BTS cover in 2017. I’ve been following them for a long time. I got a lot of requests, so I thought, why not start with one member? I guess it is difficult to make all the seven members sing in Hindi and it is difficult to find songs where all the seven people would be singing words that resemble Hindi. That’s how it started.
What prompted you to start with Jungkook?
I was listening to a few songs and trying to catch words that could sound like Hindi. A song by Jungkook came up and there was this word that sounded a lot like ‘Saari’ so I was like why not make it ‘Saari Raat’. It just happened. I wasn’t planning on starting with him in particular. I was planning to do all the seven members but then I downloaded one song and put it in the project. You have to cut it and figure out the syllable, etc. So it just happened. There was no such plan to start with Jungkook in particular.
How do you pick the songs for these edits?
I generally listen to a playlist on YouTube, you have to listen to the song with a different mind. You don’t have to concentrate on the music, you just kind of have to imagine they are singing in Hindi and then you pick out the words. I also heard a lot of their Japanese songs because the Japanese language has some words that sound a lot like Hindi. You have to constantly listen to the song. You can’t take multiple tracks because then the voice would sound very different. You have to pick one song and then keep listening to it and try to fit words together.
How long does it take to compose a piece?
It’s a time-taking process generally. Once you have the words, the music can be run in an hour, but the listening part is difficult. It might take a day or it might take two days. Sometimes I don’t get words so I skip to another song and try to get words from there. It can take up to two-three days in general. If it doesn’t happen within four days then I just skip it. I try doing something else.
For Jungkook and V’s edits, what were the songs you listened to?
Jungkook’s one is from Still With You. I heard Still With You and a few other songs where his part was more prominent. There was Still With You, there was 2U, Falling and I even had the acapella downloaded for Euphoria. I have heard their earlier albums, I am a big fan of their earlier stuff because they had this rap and hip-hop vibe going on back then. One part of V’s edit is from Inner Child and the other part is from Brand New Day.
How did you come across BTS?
A lot of my friends listened to K-pop back then (around 2017) so that’s how I was introduced to them. I used to keep listening to artists who were into neo-soul and hip-hop, and at that time, BTS’ old songs were very neo-soulish and jazzy. That’s my favourite genre of music so a lot of their music (caught my attention). Their song Butterfly was the first track I heard back then.
Who is your bias?
I love all of them, but I’ve heard that Suga has the perfect pitch and he’s a great producer so I love his song Daechwita from D-2. If I had to choose one, I would choose Suga. He’s an excellent producer.
Besides BTS, what are the other K-pop artists you follow?
Not exactly group but there’s this artist called Crush, his songs are amazing. There’s Jay Park, I love Stray Kids also, Kai from EXO, there’s also Chungha.
Given the Hallyu wave has taken over India like never before, do you think it won’t be long before more and more K-pop stars would collaborate with Indian artists?
It is kinda crazy how the Korean culture, in general, is opening up in India. I see a lot of people talking about Ramyeon and K-dramas. India is a great market and they would be keen to come to India. I think it is catching up quite fast.
If given a chance, which K-pop artist or group would you like to collaborate with?
BTS is the biggest one but I would love to work on a song with Crush. He’s my favourite. It would be a neo-soulish, hip-hopish song. I don’t know if I would put Indian elements in it but it might just have some Indian touch to it.
You’ve also collaborated with a few Indian artists as well, could you please tell us a little about that?
I used to post videos on Instagram in 2017 and then in 2019, I was actually going to do an MBA but then I posted a song and sent it to a few Bollywood musicians, one of them was Salim Merchant of Salim–Sulaiman duo. He loved it, he followed me back. As soon as I was going to start the MBA thing, I thought of just asking him if I could intern with him instead. I just randomly asked him if I could intern with him and he was like sure, please come. I shifted to Mumbai and I interned with him. I worked on a couple of songs with him, I did some songs in IIFA, I did the background music for Coolie No. 1 (Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan’s 2020 film). I also did the production for Tiger Shroff’s Disco Dancer 2.0. On Instagram, I have collaborated with Benny Dayal and a few others.
Do we get to see more of your work in the future?
There are a few things that are coming up but you will have to wait for the official announcement.
