Ananya Birla and A.R. Rahman collaborated on the song ‘Hindustani Way’ which is India’s official cheer anthem for the Olympics 2021.
The track was released on the 14th of July and the two artists spoke exclusively with Instant Bollywood about their journey.
Speaking about Hindustani Way, Ananya says, “It was to cheer for our team and to cheer for India. It is the official song to cheer for our athletes and tell them that we’re proud of them. I think everything revolved around that vision.”
On ‘Hindustani Way’ being compared to Waka Waka, Shakira’s 2010 masterpiece, Ananya calls it one of the best compliments that she personally could have gotten. “It’s like India has a Waka Waka, that is Hindustani Way,” she says.
Ananya has been actively contributing to society with her Ananya Birla Foundation, Svatantra Microfin and more. Talking about why she decided on lending a helping hand, Birla says, “I think the fact that the Universe has given me the platform where I’ve been born, one of my big duties is to give back. So this is a small attempt to do that and that’s why I do what I do. It goes the same with my music, that’s why I love it and I feel like if you can use your talent to learn and get better and use that talent to do good in this world in some way, I think that is my purpose in life. It is the one thing that makes sense to me.”
Lastly, the singer also gave us a hilarious insight on how her musical journey began.
“There was always something special that I had with music but I didn’t really understand it. I was young and I didn’t really know what to do. When I went to University, I got more perspective on it and on life. I started playing the guitar and I used to write poetries which eventually became songwriting. So then I started composing my original stuff after which I did gigs around London, Camden and Brixton. I remember I used to sing Sweet Child Of Mine and Poker Face. Now when I go back and hear it, it sounds terrible but it was a great experience,” Ananya says.
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