Marry pop songs with Gujarati folk music, and take them to the listeners — that’s singer and musician Dhaval Kothari’s approach. He says, “Even if it’s a contemporary track, you’ll hear a folk element in there. That’s my way of making Gujarati music part of a global conversation. Punjabi artistes have already done this. Why not us?” His recent Gujarati single, Saaje Saaje, reflects this thought process. 

The number infuses elements of pop and R&B music, and when you least expect it, it segues to the traditional folk song, Va Vaya Ne Vadar. With it, the singer — who has been releasing indie music since 2015 — says he didn’t want to “simply revamp a Garba tune”. “I wanted originality. The video, the outfits, it’s all part of how I want to present Gujarati indie music,” he shares.

Kothari is trained in Indian classical music, particularly the Mewati gharana. He credits his training as well as his upbringing for shaping him as an artiste. “I was born and brought up in Indore, exposed to multiple languages and cultures. From Nimaadi folk to Punjabi and Rajasthani, I absorbed everything. My dadi and nani used to sing folk songs, and those sounds remain in me. Even when I experiment with R&B or pop, the roots are always visible.”