This is one date that singer-composer Darshan Raval never misses during the monsoon. Come July, he adds a new rain song to his monsoon playlist. His latest release ‘Baarishon mein,’ (released by Sony Music), a song on heartbreak penned by Gurpreet Saini and Gautam Sharma, has garnered more than 30 million views on YouTube. “It is an extremely sad song about missing somebody,” reveals Darshan. The music video released recently featuring Darshan and Malvika Sharma has been directed by Arif Khan.
Tryst with monsoon
Darshan Raval | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
His tryst with the Mumbai monsoon in 2014 left a deep impact on this youngster from Ahmedabad. It was during his first visit to Mumbai for the reality show India’s Raw Star (where he was a runner-up). “It was raining cats and dogs, but I felt a strange connection,” he recollects. The monsoon season impacts his moods too; he finds himself calm and emotional, filled with many pleasant memories.
His first track in 2015 ‘Ishq chaddha hai’, celebrates the monsoon with strong emotions of love. “People loved the song and spurred me to do a new track every monsoon,” says Darshan who has released eight monsoon songs, one every year so far. His repertoire became synonymous with sad songs till ‘Rabba Mehar Kari – a happy romantic song in 2021 – crossed 105 million views this July .
Darshan Raval and Malvika Sharma | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Monsoon melodies
Ishq chadha hai
Ab phir se jab baarish hogi
Ye baarish
Baarish lete aana
Hawa banke
Ek Tarfa
Jannat ve
Baarishon mein
Twitter requests from fans for a song on loss led to create ‘Baarishon mein’ . Does he feel pressured to oblige fans on social media and cater to their wishes? “No” he exclaims; fans are an inspiration and boost his confidence. “It is not just about what they want me to do. I enjoy making sad songs. Also, they are not telling me to do a rap song which is not my domain; they want me to do something which I am good at, which is romance and melancholic songs.”
Music for ‘Baarishon mein’ was first created a year- and-a half ago but has been a work in progress as lyrics were added.. Creating melody, he says, is a spiritual process. “There’s no particular method to compose a song; It’s an emotional process, I feel some force from above helps me in it.”
‘Baarishon mein’ has a Hyderabad connection too. The song was unveiled during a live gig he was performing in the city after six years. He recollects, “It was a memorable day to unveil the audio and video for the song. Hyderabad and its people have great energy; There were 2,000 people in the crowd but it felt like I was performing in front of 25,000.”
Darshan opines that reality shows are not career-making platforms. Calling it an opportunity, he says, “As a young boy, I wanted to do music and just followed my heart. Music, hard work and learning constantly helped in building a fanbase.”
Finally, his favourite monsoon track? “Bheegi Bheegi raaton mein ’ by Adnam Sami.”
