Waited 3 months to get Dulquer Salmaan's dates for 'Heeriye', says singer Jasleen Royal

NEW DELHI: Singer-composer Jasleen Royal says she waited for a good "three months" to get actor Dulquer Salmaan's dates for the chartbuster song "Heeriye", which released in 2023.

Royal had first reached out to Salmaan, star of films such as "Ustad Hotel", "Bangalore Days", and "Sita Ramam", for her 2020 single "Sang Rahiyo", but got a 'no' from him because of the then Covid-induced lockdown.

Though the singer had a hard time waiting, she said she won't mind doing it all over again for her "best co-star".

"When I was doing 'Heeriye', I was like 'Let me just ask him one more time'. It had been a few years. Let's see, 'Zyada se zyada kya bolenge? Nahin yaar, nahin kar sakte'. He said he loved the song, but didn't have the time and will only get dates after three months. I was like ok, let's wait.

"And then, we waited. Later, when we finally did the song, I was constantly sharing updates with him that we entered the charts and more. He's so sweet. He's the best co-star I have ever worked with," Royal told PTI in an interview.

"Heeriye", released last July, is composed by Royal who sang the single along with Arijit Singh. The song narrates a modern-day fairytale, where Dulquer plays the role of a prince charming who ventures beyond the realm of dreams to be with the woman, played by Royal, who envisions him.

The 32-year-old multihyphenate recently released romantic song "Dastoor", starring actors Babil Khan, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta.

The new single features Royal and Khan as young lovers who part ways because of class divide only to reunite decades later. Gupta and Shroff, who recently co-starred in the Prime Video film "Mast Mein Rehne Ka", playing the older versions of the leads.

Talking about the struggles of producing a star-studded project, Royal admitted that getting these videos up isn't easy especially when the budget is limited.

"It becomes tedious. On the set too, I end up doing five people's jobs because it is not very controlled and organised in a way... We have limited budgets... Sometimes it's the weather conditions," she explained.

That said, the Ludhiana-born artiste is happy about not compromising with the cinematic value of her songs.

"It should not look like 'Agar film mein hota toh bada hota'. So far, I've been very grateful that 'Heeriye' happened with Dulquer and now 'Dastoor'... I'm happy that things are coming out and we're not compromising on anything, even though I end up driving myself crazy through the process," she added.

Featuring herself in her songs since the release of her debut single "Panchi Hojavan" over a decade ago, Royal said she might be up for an acting assignment if something interesting comes her way.

"I do get (acting) offers... I have actor friends, and it's not easy, by any means. Constant work on yourself goes into being an actor. And now that I have understood some bit of the musical world, I don't want to discard this and start again (in acting). But if something very interesting comes up, then why not!" she said.