My songs express natural feelings within me: Ankit Tiwari

Singer Ankit Tiwari, whose "Sun raha tu" in "Aashiqui 2" turned out to be a chartbuster, has hit the right note with "Galliyan" in "Ek Villain". He says that he tries to keep his music "pure".

Why is there so much angst in your singing and composition?

"I wouldn't say it's angst. I'd say it's just the natural feelings within me," he said.

"Luckily, I've the ability to express my music exactly the way I create it because I sing my own compositions. I suppose that is why 'Sun raha hai tu' and now 'Galliyan' have come out sounding so heartfelt."

The acoustic version of "Galliyan" is sung by the film's leading lady Shraddha Kapoor. Ankit says getting her to do a version of this haunting melody was a masterstroke.

"It was Mahesh Bhatt Saab's idea to get Shraddha to sing 'Galliyan'. I was all for it. I hadn't met her until the music release function of 'Aashiqui 2'.

"She told me she liked my 'Suna raha hai tu' number. We were standing next to each other on the stage for the function. She was humming something. I was amazed at how tunefully she was humming. Then I asked her to hum it again. And she did exactly the same way. And mind you, all this was happening while the music release function was happening," he said.

Recalling the recording of "Galliyan", Ankit said: "We called Shraddha with the intent of trying out her voice. If it hadn't worked we would have re-recorded her voice. But when she sang 'Galliyan', I immediately knew she owned it. There was a purity in her voice. That's the quality in my music that I cherish. Good or bad, doesn't matter.

"My music has to be pure. When we finished recording her portion of the song Shraddha stayed on to hear me sing. Which busy actress would do that? Nowadays singers leave after their portion of a duet is recorded."