It’s one of those rare beautiful evenings in Mumbai when the air is still, and the grey skies hold the promise of rain. A familiar voice drifts in through the speakers — Abhijeet Sawant’s. The singer, who won the nation’s heart in 2005 as the first winner of Indian Idol, is back with a single, a recreation of the Marathi classic, Chal turu turu. When we sit down with him for a chat, he opens the conversation by revealing that this Marathi song has been with him since his growing up days. “Before Indian Idol, I used to do orchestra shows in pandals. This was my first entry song, you know,” he grins.

However, the singer admits that when Saregama approached him to voice the recreation, he was nervous. “Chal turu turu is an old, beloved song. People sometimes criticise recreations; they question why you’re changing the original. But when I heard the new version, I realised that the soul of the song had been maintained. That’s when I felt confident to give it a new look while respecting what it originally was.”