MUMBAI: While there are Punjabi songs being made dime a dozen, some stand out for their unique sound and presentation. The latest one is Hulle Hullare by Taricka Bhatia and produced by the singing sensation Mika Singh.  Taricka, who has made her name with her distinctive voice, was first spotted by the producer of the current song and iconic singer Mika.

Taricka shares, “My maternal side is heavily into music, as my mom is a playback singer and my nani too is a sangeet visharad. However, I was never into music, and I was studying finance, was into wedding planning, and fashion designing too. Once, at a college fest, I was singing casually, when Mika happened to listen to me sing. That’s when he insisted that I should get into singing.”

Mika, who is her mentor and a family friend, has always supported her and many other newcomers, “He made sure that I get the right platform. That’s the way he is, always supporting new talent. He went out of his way to promote and launch this song for me. It feels great to have such a support.”

Apart from learning the finer nuances of music from Mika, she has learnt lot of other things too, “I have learnt from Mika that if plan ‘A’ fails, there is always plan ‘B’.”

About the song Hulle Hullare, Taricka says, “Hulle Hullare is a Punjabi expression, mostly used in Folk Music. We used those words as the hook line and created a party number.” The song reflects the vibrancy and upbeat nature of Punjabis to the hilt.

Taricka, who never had any formal training in music, is now taking training in Classical Music, “I think it will help me better my performances.”

She also performs across the globe, and while most of the singers enjoy live performances, Taricka has a slightly different view, “I love performing live, no doubt about that, but I enjoy singing or recording in a studio too. There is something about singing in those four walls; it takes you to another world. When you are performing live, you singing more for the audience, but when you are recording it connect you with your soul.”

A name to reckon with in Punjabi music, Taricka shares her intentions for Bollywood, “Certainly, I would love to sing for Bollywood or Hindi movies. Any form of music is great for me. But, I want to sing something that has something great for me. I am not willing to do any song, just for the heck of it.”