“I used to hide the fact that I was a singer because people mocked me”

Raw, powerful, vibrant, alive.

Kailash Kher took us on an extraordinary journey of soaring optimism and gritty intensity; what we didn’t also know was how artlessly charming he can be.

In a riveting conversation in which he frequently broke into song – from crowd-favourite Allah Ke Bande and Teri Deewani to an original from his latest album and even the advertising jingles he sang early in his career – Kailash spoke with the same pell-mell energy with which he has lived his life. From the age of 14 when he left home to hunt for a music guru to hone his passion; to the years in which he lied about his profession so he wouldn’t be mocked; to the gut-wrenching years of self-doubt and poverty that took him into the dark hole of depression and the brink of suicide; to becoming one of the country’s most celebrated performers – a man who, like his voice, will not remain in the background because he has been born to foreground his chosen world.

Watch the full session above.