A true Kashmiri at heart, Neerja Pandit recently came up with a single titled ‘Kashmir’. ‘Kashmir’ is not just a song, but the lost soul of a Kashmiri, who in her resilience wants to come back to her heaven- not amidst guns and bloodshed, but surrounded by nature and its beauty. With peace and harmony interrupted with the advent of terrorism, millions of lives were affected. Neerja, was one such young girl, when she left the valley. However, her love for Kashmir never diminished, and she has been expressing it through her music over the years.
Pandit has also sung for some well known television and Bollywood films including ‘Khoobsurat’ (1999) and ‘Traffic Signal’ (2009). However, she has been away from the Indian television and film industry for a while now, and the only reason for her distantness is change. “A lot has changed in both film and television musically. I used to sing a lot of TV title tracks in the past, and they were recorded like film songs, but the trend has changed now. TV shows prefer picking up an existing Bollywood number. Similarly, even in films, things have changed. Hence, I have been focusing more on my independent work,” said Pandit.
Most of Pandit’s albums and concerts have been about Kashmiri folk music, and they have been accepted worldwide. ‘Cheshma Bu Wondai’, ‘Yaadvotur’ and ‘Patram Pushpam’ are some of her albums. “People have not heard Kashmiris’ on the issues that they face. My new single voices out Kashmir’s feelings,” said the singer. She has collaborated with her son Raj Pandit, who is the music producer of this soulful song. ‘Kashmir’ is an original folk composition which has a very contemporary sound to reach and connect with the young generation. The song also features the talented actor Anupam Kher versing the beauty of Kashmir and a new lease of hope.
This is also for the first time that Pandit has featured in one of her song videos. Talking about the experience she said, “It was all very exciting. I got to revisit the beautiful locations of Kashmir while shooting for the song’s video.”
