Freshly home after the Mohobbat Zindabad! USA Tour, Ankur Tewari graced his Indian fan base with a two-day Homecoming Tour, performing shows in Delhi and Mumbai earlier this month. Known for his diverse range of music, from indie-pop and rock to features in Bollywood soundtracks, Ankur’s tunes have captured the hearts of music lovers worldwide. Even for those unfamiliar with his work, his concerts serve as a gateway experience, introducing them to his wonderful discography.
You've just returned from the Mohobbat Zindabad USA tour. How does it feel to be performing back home again?
It was quite crazy because we did an 8-city tour where there was a mix of people who knew my music, didn't know my music, and were discovering my music for the first time. Some people didn't understand the language I was singing in. It gave you the same kind of butterflies in the stomach that you used to have when you started. It was very exciting, but back home, it was pretty much like a warm welcome, where a lot of people from the fan base showed up and people sang along. The numbers were different, the vibe was different. The US itself is going through a really crazy, tough time right now. So, back home was properly like, as my management called it, the “homecoming.” It felt like a homecoming.
The USA tour was titled Mohobbat Zindabad, which is one of your songs from the album in 2016, Side A. What pulled you back to 2016?
I feel like if anytime the US has needed love, it’s more now than any time before, and it became like rooms full of love and camaraderie. It felt like people were craving some kind of affection, love, warmth. So it just felt like the right time to call it Mohobbat Zindabad.
What is the last thing you think of or do right before you get on stage?
Trouble my management asking them if anybody has shown up. Make sure that my in-ears are in place, my guitar is tuned, just like go through the setlist once just to ensure that everything's in order and kind of visualise how the set is going to play out.
Some artists create music to heal, some to express themselves. What inspires you to continue creating?
I would say they kind of interconnect, like you express so you can heal, they're not exclusive. And you kind of document your life, you kind of vent out whatever you're feeling, whether it's a positive feeling or a negative feeling, and you feel lighter after you express yourself.
Is there a trick that you use to make the audience sway to your tunes?
You will have to tell me that, I don't know. I just do my job. I write songs and I express feelings. I think that the song should be a constant reminder that you're human. And in the world of algorithms and AI, and machines, sometimes we forget to behave like humans and start behaving like machines. So I feel songs help to remind us that we're all humans. Maybe globally, people are looking for that, but I don't know if you could answer that better.
When are we going to hear from you again?
Musically, there are a bunch of projects that we're doing. Like I've been keeping myself busy recording my album, which is done. Right now we're in the mix phase of the album. We're plotting the release of the album, and I'm also kind of collaborating with a lot of musicians for my label, Tiger Baby Records. We're releasing some of the stuff. We just released this series called City Sessions, in which I wrote a couple of songs and co-wrote one song. And so I've been keeping myself busy with music. Some of it is mine, some of it is collaborations with other amazing musicians. But I have recorded my next album. I'm kind of mixing it right now.
Words Ayushie Shahane
23.05.2025