Ankur Tewari: OTT has been an interesting chapter for indie musicians

While he is known for releasing a lot of independent music, musician-writer Ankur Tewari has also been associated with big films such as Gully Boy (2019) and a couple of OTT projects. Ask him if he prefers indie over mainstream music, and Tewari refuses to pick one: “I don’t classify my music as independent or mainstream. I love music and I enjoy making it.”

But he’s keen when asked to highlight the prime difference between the two. “With independent music, there’s no brief, you just follow your gut and follow what you feel,” says the Dil Beparvah singer, adding, “In mainstream music, you’re trying to enhance someone else’s vision. Both have an interesting part to play.”

For his latest project, Tewari collaborated with an AI-enabled record label, Snafu, which helps unknown musicians get recognised on the basis of merit. “In the beginning, I was apprehensive, because I approach my music organically. But I realised it’s amazing. It helps artistes reach a wider audience, people who probably were not listening to Ankur Tewari earlier,” says the singer, who has released his new love track, Shehzaada Shehzaadi.

Tewari is also known to have composed music for web projects such as RejctX 2 and Yeh Ballet. He feels OTT has been a blessing for new musicians: “The rise of OTT has been an interesting new chapter for independent musicians. There is so much music that is being licensed for movies and shows and a lot of independent artistes are seeing the benefits of that.”

Besides being a musician, he’s also written a couple of TV shows. Is OTT his next transition? “OTT platforms have given a new lease of life to storytelling in India. I’m really excited about the medium,” he ends.