The Incredible Music Journey Of Darshan Raval

India’s biggest breakout star discusses Bollywood, YouTube and the politics of creativity

- Riddhi Chakraborty

DARSHAN RAVAL

Darshan Raval is both the calm and the storm. There’s something peculiarly tranquil about the way he talks and moves. Not a word is spoken out of context, not a demand made out of habit— something you barely expect of a 24-year-old mega-celebrity. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would know that Raval is currently India’s biggest breakout music star. And—as we soon find out—perhaps its humblest too.

The stormy bits in Raval’s life are courtesy of this newfound stardom: his days are now a whirlwind of back-to-back concerts, shoots, press engagements and fan interactions. He’s been on tour for almost two months straight since December and has yet to break the streak, so scheduling a conversation with him is a tiny bit of a challenge. “I’ve been shooting and traveling every day,” he says over the phone when we finally do connect. He’s flown into Mumbai this morning after a sold-out concert in Rajkot the previous night and is due for a studio session with Bollywood producer Pritam next, after which he has to head to Kolkata for yet another show. It’s a lot to handle, but multitasking seems to be his best friend. “What I’ll do is I’ll take the stairs and I’ll still keep talking to you,” he tells me cheerfully as he begins leaving for the recording session and we wrap up a few more questions that way.