Without discounting the effort he has consistently put into his craft, it could be safe to assume that Arjun Kanungo had a lot working in his favour when it came to charting a Bollywood career. A musician whose work was lapped up by listeners so swiftly that he managed to bag a dream acting debut alongside Salman Khan, Kanungo, however, chose to pave a different path. “I loved the experience of working on Radhe, but I don’t know if Bollywood is a place I am suited for. It has never been a priority, and I’ve been open about the fact that I’ve never chased it. [Only] if the script excites me will I be motivated [to work on another one],” he says, quick to add that he has, however, been dabbling in acting and has collaborated with a cousin for a feature film.

Currently, however, Kanungo has his attention trained on his long-in-the-making debut album, Industry, a far cry from the signature pop style he has been known for. “The more that non-film music continues to grow in India, the more will [be the need] to create an album. It enables me to showcase what I am capable of, on a deeper level. The importance of poetry in lyricism is increasing. More often than not, an album is the story of an artiste.”