In conversation with #swagwalibride Akriti Kakar!

The beautiful diva Akriti Kakar, the voice and face behind the recent song #SwagWaliBride talks to us about the idea of the song, making of it, her favourite moments, and more.

Idea behind the song

The idea behind the song came from a personal experience which was my own wedding. Though it happened almost 2 years ago, my best friend kept tagging our wedding with the hashtag #swagwalibride which she thought best described me at that point. I was a totally bindaas and a chill bride whereas usually brides get a bit nervous before their wedding primarily because they do not know what the future holds for them, which is the case with all of us. It’s usually the one crazy line “Log kya kahenge” that keeps people nervous and scared and the brides are forced to be shy, reserved and what not. I totally think it’s time we break ties and carry grace and yet so much swag.

How did you decide to remake a Punjabi folk song?

I decided to remake this old Punjabi folk song Chidiyaan Da Chamba because for anyone that gets married in my family, this song gets played during the vidaai ceremony and everyone ends up crying because this song has a very high emotional quotient to itself lyrically. In earlier times, brides were considered as paraya dhan but now times have changed and we can’t apply the same lyrics, thought process has changed and our society has evolved. We tried to bring traditions and also tell people to send off brides with smiling faces. It basically tells people to bring two big families together. We wanted to create folk music but it had to be related to this age.

What were your favourite moments from the sets of the song?

The best part was having my favourite people around me which included my husband Chirag who believed in the concept so much and it was a throwback for us at every moment. It was the comfort level, his vision and mine running parallel together, it was great! Another epic moment was me being able to ride the ghodi (horse) which I couldn’t at my own wedding. I don’t know how the grooms do it. I find it funny, crazy and scary. But yes, I did it! (Laughs)

Describe how the making-of-the song was

The making of the song was a three week process. I was very particular to ensure that the song had many colours to it, not follow a particular genre because we had to keep the old school and charm of the Punjabi folk alive but still give it a new sound. With the wedding season currently going on, it could be a perfect song! I sat down with DAWgeek, a very talented music producer who has done a lot of other stuff as well on YouTube. This was challenging for both of us because he has never heard these old folk songs but we finally cracked the right tones for it. We used live tools for the song and Manoj Yadav came in to express through his lyrics what we wanted to say pertaining to 2018, what girls feel in this current age and what they are trying to express.

3 reasons why people should listen to this song

1. It is an honest effort to bring back old folk Punjabi music because I feel it is getting lost. People don’t relate to the ideas and believe in the systems carried forward. Our earnest effort to bring back the old culture with our own new age interpretation of it.

2. Watch the video because we got some real Swag Wali Brides and found great footages and put them all together and added a real life touch to the video.

3. I think independent music has a lot to offer to genuine music listeners. If you like music, it is essential in times of today to support independent music.

Your message to fans

This is the first from the Swag Wali Bride series.We have the second and third to the series coming up in the months to follow. There are a lot of singles too that I will be releasing and I promise to give you different kinds of music through the year.