I feel blessed: Purva Mantri on singing garba song written by PM Modi

PTI, Oct 7, 2024, 6:49 PM IST

New Delhi: Singer Purva Mantri, who hit the spotlight on Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharing a video of her garba song penned by him, says she is blessed and honoured.

She woke up to a flurry of messages and screenshots of the prime minister’s post on X, said the Mumbai-based musician, who both recorded the track “Aavati Kalay” and shot for its music video in just 24 hours.

“This is really big for an artiste and a citizen. I feel blessed. I am grateful and honoured to be part of this big track. I have tears in my eyes,” the singer told PTI in a phone interview.

Modi shared on X the garba song he wrote as a tribute to Goddess Durga.

“It is the auspicious time of Navratri and people are celebrating in different ways, united by their devotion to Maa Durga. In this spirit of reverence and joy, here is Aavati Kalay, a Garba I wrote as a tribute to Her power and grace. May Her blessings always remain upon us,” he wrote on X.

He thanked Mantri, lauding her as a talented upcoming singer, for the garba song and presenting such a melodious rendition of it.

Mantri, also known for songs such as “Raanjhan Ve”, “The Papa Song”, and “Uljhi”, said her management agency informed her that she is supposed to record a song urgently but wasn’t told it was written by Modi.

“This project came at the last minute. They just told me that we are doing a project for the government, so just be ready… I didn’t know the song was so big at the time of recording… that the prime minister had penned its lyrics. I received this surprise after I finished recording,” she said.

The 30-year-old said she recorded “Aavati Kalay” on a mobile studio on Sunday morning in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar, where she is headlining a Navratri festival.

“I recorded the song and shot its music video in the last 24 hours. I entered my hotel room on Saturday after finishing my performance late at night.

“Around 6 am on Sunday, I set up my recording equipment, something that I travel with, and recorded this wonderful song. Then, without sleeping a wink, we went to shoot for the video yesterday in Surat.” Mantri said she also performed at a show in Surat after shooting the video.

The Ratlam-born singer, born to classical and folk singer mother and entrepreneur father, said her parents were proud and emotional after the song came out.

“My father said this is bigger than any Bollywood track,” she said.

Mantri, who did her schooling in Indore and Surat, said she decided to pursue a career in music around 2016.

“After I scored poorly in my Class 11 exams, I told my father I wanted to be an artiste. The next day we went to the school’s principal and told him that I wanted to be a musician. That’s how my musical journey started.

“For one-and-a-half years, I used to go up and down daily from Surat to Mumbai since it was not possible to move cities immediately. I would catch a 5 am train to Mumbai from Surat every day. After taking a two-hour class under my guru Malay Banerjee, I would catch the train back to Surat in the evening.”