Bollywood singers have been releasing non-film singles over the years, but 2020 saw an increasing number of artistes explore the indie scene, and fans are not complaining.
Here's a list of singers who entertained their fans with singles in the pandemic era:
DHVANI BHANUSHALI
The young singer has been successful at balancing Bollywood and non-film music careers. If she delivered Bollywood chartbusters like "Dilbar" and "Psycho saiyaan", her singles such as "Vaaste" and "Leja re" have been fan favourites, too. This year too, she didn't disappoint her fans. She released singles "Na ja tu", "Baby girl", "Nayan" and "Jeetenge hum", which she dedicated to the frontline workers who are battling the Covid-19 pandemic. Her steady flow of songs proves her career graph is only on the rise.
ARMAAN MALIK
He is the voice behind top Bollywood tracks like "Main hoon hero tera", " Tumhe apna banane ka" and "Jab tak". He has also sung in multiple languages like Telugu and Tamil. And this year, he launched his first international single "Control". He followed it up with more English songs "Next 2 me" and "How many". He continued to churn out songs in the Hindi non-film music space, with "Veham" being his latest one. He added a feather in his cap winning Best India Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
PAPON
For years, he has been singing in multiple languages including Assamese and Hindi. Known to Bollywood music buffs for his songs such as "Kyon" and "Bulleya", Papon has a cult fan base in the independent music space as well. Making good use of lockdown, he came up with multiple singles this year including "Haaye rabba", "Nilaanjana", "Mujhe kisi se pyar nahin" and his latest, "Maula".
BADSHAH
A plagiarism charge and a fake hits controversy generated much negative news about Badshah, but neither could keep his popularity down. The rapper unveiled an array of singles in 2020 like most years. Out of them, "Genda phool" was the most-talked about, for all the wrong reasons. He was accused of lifting portions off Ratan Kahar's classic Bengali folk song "Boroloker biti lo" without giving the artiste any credit. Badshah promptly paid the veteran folk singer, and promised to collaborate with him in a future project. The fake hits controversy followed. According to an IANS report in August, Badshah reportedly admitted to Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), to shelling out over Rs. 75 lakh for promoting his album with fake likes and followers.
However, the rap superstar's hit count kept rising, undeterred. Among his biggest hits this year are the singles like "Awaara" and "Toxic". His song with Fazilpuria, "Haryana Roadways" also became a rage.
NEHA KAKKAR
She is Bollywood's numero uno female voice at the moment, and despite film production being shut she had a very busy year with back-to-back singles including "Moscow Suka (with Yo Honey Singh)", "Bheegi bheegi", "Taaron ke shehar", and "Teri aankhon mein".
She literally announced her wedding with the music video "Nehu da Vyah", with her husband, singer Rohanpreet Singh, and then within weeks Neha announced "Khyaal rakhta kar" in a way that would make it seem like she was pregnant. It was a publicity stunt, of course.
GURU RANDHAWA
The Punjabi star is popular for his singles being given a Bollywood touch, as his hit songs get featured in Hindi films quite often. Be it "Suit suit" or "Ban jaa rani", his singles have been used by Bollywood filmmakers. In 2020, he made his fans dance to singles like "Nach meri rani" and "Baby girl".
YO YO HONEY SINGH
He is an artiste whose roots go back to the early days of the new-age Indian indie music scene. In Bollywood, he is known for hits such as "Yaar naa miley" and "The Lungi Dance". This year not only saw him releasing his own singles, but also launching a new face, Ipsitaa, with the track, "First kiss". Most recently, the rapper unveiled "Jingle bell" with artiste Hommie Dilliwala. He also has "Saiyaan ji" in his kitty.
AMAAL MALLIK
Armaan's brother and composer-singer Amaal Mallik, known for Bollywood compositions like "Sooraj dooba hai", "Main hoon hero tera" and "Naina", entered the non-film music territory with the pop song "Tu mera nahi" as a singer. The track got a party version too. The re-imagined track was curated by DJ Shadow Dubai.
KANIKA KAPOOR
She was one of the first Indian celebrities to have contracted coronavirus. But she ensured to end the year with at least one single. Known for Bollywood hits like "Baby doll" and "Chittiyaan kalaiyaan", Kanika released "Jugni 2.0" in December. She basically gave a new twist to her single "Jugni ji", which had released eight years ago. The song is an instant hit.
ARJUN KANUNGO
The "Khoon choos le" singer has made it big in the non-film music scene, especially after his breakout hit "Baaki baatein peene baad". This year was no different for him. He continued to give melodious singles like "Dil kho ke", "Tum na ho" and "Waada hai".