By Noor Anand Chawla
A good thing should be milked for all its worth. As in the case of Aaryan Banthia’s popular song Paar, whose tremendous success led him to release its acoustic version on January 26,2022. After all, the original song had crossed the 1 million mark within 10 days of its release in November 2020. Paar poignantly expresses the struggles of people from different segments of society during the pandemic. Fittingly, its new acoustic version comes amidst the third wave.
“The original had really struck a chord with people because it spoke about society needing to inculcate the traits of inclusivity and diversity. I believe it was the mood and emotion of the lyrics, and its pertinent theme that made it popular. It is a song that is very close to my heart.In these last two years, a majority of us have been through so much personally. This song is a tribute to the resilience and faith of mankind and the power of positive thinking in manifesting beautiful outcomes. I hope everyone enjoys listening to this version as much as I enjoyed singing it,” shares Banthia.
His fan base is global, and spans Spotify listeners from the US, Germany, UK, and Ukraine, among others. Aaryan’s debut Hindi track ‘Yaadein’ was a rock ballad with a subtle touch of blues and was released by Zee music. His second was the English rock song called ‘Back in the Day’, and both these singles crossed the one million mark on YouTube in a short span of time. After this came ‘Hey Betty’ which depicted old school romance. He is influenced by renowned guitarists like Mark Knopler, John Mayer, BB King, and Paul Gilbert, and has immense passion for the guitar.
Speaking about his latest release, Banthia says, “This song addresses the problems the entire world has faced in the past two years. I plan to make translated versions of the song in different languages because the theme has universal appeal. I feel it’s similar to ‘We are the world’, as it has a message for everyone. I hope to collaborate with great artists from around the world to sing this song with me.”The song was released on India’s Republic Day celebration to mark the special occasion when the entire country comes together as one. Banthia feels there couldn’t be a better day to release a song with this message. Next on the cards is another pop rock track which is almost ready, and a video for ‘Red Bull India’ where three versions of Banthia perform a mashup on two of his love songs ‘Yaadein’ and ‘Tere Bin’. Paar the acoustic version can be streamed on all leading platforms.