MUMBAI: A five-year-old Asees Kaur started singing when her father introduced her to the Gurbani. Her early days in Panipat, Haryana were spent in Gurudwaras singing lines from the Gurbani.

“Singing the Gurbani has really given my voice a character that stands out. The fact that my lower registers are so strong and probably my USP is because of singing the Gurbani,” says the ‘Bolna’ hitmaker. In fact her version of the Gurbani garnered tremendous appreciation nationwide. She started singing Gurbani at various events. Her siblings were also actively involved in the Gurbani recitation. Asees participated in a Punjabi reality show, ‘Awaz Punjab Di’, following which she came to Bombay and met various music composers.

Asees got herself on the map with her heartful reprise version of ‘Dildara’. On asking her about her experience regarding the same, she recalls, “I flew down to Mumbai to sort of audition for the song. I sang a few lines and Arko Pravo Mukherjee said he wanted to dub it the next day. We completed recording the song in twenty minutes.”

Asees was also in the sixth edition of ‘Indian Idol’. Although she did not make it far into the competition but she says, “Salim Merchant’s contact was really important. I came back and I practiced very hard for a year before I made my way back to Mumbai.”

‘Bolna’ marked a milestone in Asees’s career, fetching her Mirchi Music Award for the best upcoming female vocalist. “The award is really special because I remember watching the award ceremony on TV for the past seven years and to win one in the ninth edition really felt surreal. It was the best feeling ever. All my hard work paid off.”

Asees apart from pursuing her playback career is also into live gigging. Her sets usually include Sufi numbers to Bollywood songs alike. They are all set to perform at ‘Bollywood Music Project’ which is the largest music festival in Asia on 25 and 26 March respectively.

This budding singer has yet another Bollywood track under her belt. ‘Tukra Tukra’ is going to be her next release, from the movie ‘Mirza Juliet’, which is all set to hit the market on 10 March. “It’s a very special song and I really like it a lot,” said Kaur.

Also, she gave her fans a heads up about her upcoming endeavours which would mostly include dance numbers, unlike her earlier rather soft numbers that people relate her with.

“Work hard. Practice hard. The industry has become very welcoming so you do have the opportunity to be the best,” adds the Punjabi singer as her note of inspiration to all the young aspiring singers.