New Delhi: Well-known Bollywood playback singer and music director B Praak, is once again making headlines for his reinventions of old Hindi classic songs from the heydays of Bollywood. Praak’s remarkable talent for combining melody and lyrics has made his music immensely popular among India’s younger audiences as of late.
Born as Pratik Bachan in Chandigarh, India on February 7, 1986, Praak’s early life was deeply influenced by the folk fusion music of the 90’s as well as dubstep music of the early 2000’s. His father Varinder Bachan was a renowned Punjabi and Hindi music producer and composer of pop and folk music, who encouraged his son’s innate talent for tunes and allowed him to pursue his passion.
Praak had initially started his career into Bollywood under the name of “Prakky B”, but after receiving no recognition, he decided to change his stage name to “B Praak” under the advice of lyricist Jaani. Their first collaboration song “Soch” sung by singer Harrdy Sandhu, immediately became a Punjabi chartbuster and is still considered as one of the best Punjabi songs of the year 2013.
His initial fame, helped him to gain more contracts for singers like Jassie Gill, Harrdy Sandhu, Gippy Grewal, Ammy Virk, Amrinder Gill and Diljit Dosanjh. He first debuted as a singer in the 2018 after singing the songs “Mann Bharrya” and “Ranjha” from the army action-drama film “Shershaah”, which became a sensation among India’s youth. His soulful and emotional vocal timbre, accompanied by his deep and soulful resonance evoked a sense of longing and determination, that resonated deeply with Indian audiences, solidifying his position as a playback singer in Bollywood.
His later songs “Teri Mitti” from the Hindi film Kesari (2019) starring Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra and the remake of the popular song ‘O Saaki Saaki’ for John Abraham starrer Batla House (2019) also became some of Bollywood’s most well-acclaimed tracks. The remarkably patriotic and emotional track ‘Teri Mitti’ also won him the ‘National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer’ in 2021.
In recent years, Praak’s remakes of old evergreen Hindi classics like “Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee” and “Sach Keh Raha Hai Deewana” have gained massive popularity on audio streaming platforms like Spotify and Wynk music. While recreations of old Hindi songs are mostly disliked by Indian audiences, Praak’s soulful melodies and use of modern instruments uplift the originality of the songs while also infusing it with much-needed upgrades.
His 2023 song “Saari Duniya Jalaa Denge” from Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal (2023) remains of the most revisited songs to date. Recently during an interview with ‘The Hindu’, Praak said that he was deeply inspired by A.R. Rahman’s style of music direction growing up while singers like Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar, Jatin-Lalit, and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy helped him with his much-needed experience required to switch from a music director to a playback singer.
During his career spanning a decade, Praak has voiced and composed several award-winning tracks like, Soch (2012), Joker (2013), Ik Saal (2014), Supna (2014), Mere Kol (2014), Paani (2015), Surma To Sandals (2015), Do Din (2015), Ikk Vaari Hor Soch Lae (2015), Subha Subha (2016), Do You Know (2016), Oye Hoye Oye Hoye (2016), Yaar Ve (2016), Qismat (2017), Violin (2017), Guitar Sikhda (2017), Hath Chumme (2017), Sooraj (2018), Fitoor (2018), Mann Bharya (2018), Ve Pathra (2019), Nain Tere (2019), Hawaa (2019), Laare (2019), Nach Goriye (2019), Bandeya (2020), Channa Ve (2020), Kyon (2020), Doob Gaye (2021), Dhoke Pyaar Ke (2021), Roohedaariyan (2022), Udd Gaya (2022), Kudiyan Lahore Diyan (2022), Ittar (2023), Darbadar (2024) and Qismat Badal Di (2024).
He has also won several awards and acclamations, like the Filmfare Awards (2021) in the category ‘Best Male Playback Singer’ for the track ‘Mann Bharrya’ and ‘Best Music Director’ for the movie ‘Shershaah’, the International Indian Film Academy Awards (2022) in the category of ‘Best Music Director’ for the film ‘Shershaah’, and the National Film Awards in the category ‘Best Male Playback Singer’ for the song ‘Teri Mitti’ from the film ‘Kesari’.
His mellifluous voice and emotive delivery continue to make a significant impact on present-day Bollywood, contributing to the popularity and success of contemporary Indian cinema music in the 21st century. Praak’s evocative and innate singing talent highlights the rawness of Hindi music emotions, boosting his influence throughout the great nation of India.
