Akriti Kakkar returns with a new edition of Big Band Theory

Years after she presented the first edition of the acclaimed music series Big Band Theory Akriti Kakkar is set to present the next version Celebrated names including Shankar Mahadevan and Shaan join her for this edition that includes songs across five genresEdited excerpts from the interviewHow is this season an extension of the last oneI took some time to wrap my head around the idea of bringing forth this new season and the elements it should entail The beauty of the first season was that there was no production involved and it was entirely organic For the next edition I wanted to up the scale As an independent artiste pouring your heart out is always scary mdash money time and emotions are involved after all I started work on this edition before the lockdown First I made the songs and then I thought it would be nice to have collaborators When I called Shankar ji Mahadevan he said lsquoWhatever yoursquore calling me for the answer is yesrsquo Shaan too put his faith in me Shaan and I had collaborated on a Bengali single that worked very well and grew organically In this edition there are more musicians involved and five different genres of songs have been includedAlso ReadShankar Mahadevan on working with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa We fight everydayCan you take us through the tracklistThere is a dance track with Nikhita Gandhi and Shashwat Singh Shashwat will be heard rapping for the first time in this song which has an element of badassery Therersquos a string section involved as well In Mawaan te dhiyaan my sisters Sukriti and Prakriti and my mother have sung That is a classic Punjabi folk song The track we have with Shankar ji is called Heer It is based on the tale of HeerRanjha and has been narrated from the perspective of Heer It is a conversation between her and her father following her death She complains and asks him why he didnrsquot let her marry the man she loved even though he had always supported her It is a dark intense and painful song The pain that Shankar ji has infused into it is amazing Sui ve sui has folkinspired hooks that have been rewritten It is a fun banter between a girl and a boy Aya ladiye revolves around a wedding but has been narrated from the perspective of the bride and groom Romy has rendered it He has a rustic voice Hersquos the newage Nusrat ji Fateh Ali KhanHow tough is it to stay true to the art without falling for commercial tropes as an independent artisteI need to be smart about the decisions that I take I have paid every single person on this project Listeners need to understand that songs donrsquot simply hit 100 million without reason A million people are not always waiting for a song to release Credible music labels establish themselves with goodquality music In the past I had released two songs to meet commercial demands But I didnrsquot feel true to myself It has taken me a while to come to this realisation