It was in 2012 that singer Shalmali Kholgade burst on the scene with the stunning Pareshaan from Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra’s debut film Ishaqzaade. Ever since, it’s been one Bollywood hit after another—her strong voice shining through in Balam Pichkari (2013) and Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai (2016) among other masala numbers. So when we put our headphones on and pressed play on her indie English album,  2X Side A, we didn’t really know what to expect.
 
A friend, who had seen Kholgade perform at festivals while she was a student at St Xavier’s in Mumbai, offered this perspective—“she has gone back to what she had started out with and it’s so good to hear”. 

When we share this with Kholgade on a Zoom call, the 31-year-pls singer laughs. “Yes, exactly. This is what I always wanted to do. When Pareshaan came out, my friends from college said, ‘that’s not you!’ This is what I have always wanted to be—a singer-songwriter.”