Singer Aastha Gill has come a long way in a short time, since the days she was largely recognised as the promising female voice in Badshah hits such as 'Dhup chik', 'Abhi toh party shuru hui hai' or 'DJ wale babu'. Lately, whether she has sung with Badshah ('Pani paani') or Akasa ('Naagin'), she has owned the song as much as the other singer. Aastha, who started out with Bollywood hits in films as 'Fugly' (singing 'Dhup chik') and "Khoobsurat" ('Abhi toh party'), would attribute her rise to the advent of non-film indie music because, as she points out, no one in the music industry depends on a playback career anymore.

"Earlier, things were different. We could not be choosy about stuff. Right now, things are changing. I think the independent scene has grown so much so fast in India that people are self-sufficient now. We are doing our own bit of work. So, no one's dependent on film songs anymore," she tells IANS.