Exclusive! From rejection to recognition: Vaibhav Gupta strikes gold with Mann Atkeya

From a small neighbourhood in Kanpur to the vast stage of Bollywood, singer Vaibhav Gupta’s journey has been anything but ordinary. The young singer, who rose to prominence after winning Indian Idol and is now being widely recognised for the song Mann Atkeya from Dhurandhar: The Revenge, speaks with disarming honesty about rejection, resilience and staying true to music.

“I am from Kanpur, born and brought up there,” he says, adding, “My house is in Nankari in Kanpur, a small area. While my family continues to live there, I have moved to Mumbai, navigating the early years of a playback career on my own." Vaibhav's breakthrough came in 2024, when he won Indian Idol at the age of 19. But the journey to that moment was far from easy. “Before Indian Idol, for 7 continuous years I was rejected for reality shows,” he recalls.

What changed, he says, was not his voice but his mindset. “When I went in 2023, I went with zero expectations and auditioned without thinking whether I will get selected or not, I sang with all my heart and I got selected,” he says. The experience of the show, he says, was transformative. “During the show, I changed as a person and as an artist.” Among the judges, Vaibhav says Shreya Ghoshal left a lasting impact on him. “I call Shreya Ghoshal Didi. She treated us like family member, not like a contestant.

She doesn’t judge, she basically guides you,” he says, recalling how her mentorship continued even off-camera. “After the shooting for an episode was over, Shreya Didi used to come and tell everyone how we performed and what else we could do to improve upon our performance.” Yet, Vaibhav is clear-eyed about the limits of reality television. “Reality show is very different from Bollywood singing,” he explains, adding, “In reality shows we sing songs already sung by a singer but in Bollywood, when a composer gives you lyrics, you have your own notes.

You have to see what you are singing and how you portray it.” Still, he credits the platform for changing his life. “Indian Idol gave me a stage.

No one knew me before that and I was just a small singer from Kanpur but Indian Idol put me in front of the world,” he says. Music, for Vaibhav, was never inherited; it was discovered. “No one sang in my house. It’s all God’s gift,” he says. He remembers winning his first competition at the age of four, and later training in classical music.

“I belong to Rampur Sahaswan Gharana which is Ustad Rashid Khan’s and Ghulam Mustafa Khan’s gharana,” he notes, adding that his grounding in classical music continues to shape his voice.

While his song Mann Atkeya is ruling the chart, Vaubhav says his Bollywood break came unexpectedly. “On February 9, I got a call to meet Aditya Dhar at his house. When I first started singing in the mic, Aditya sir said, ‘It’s a very good voice, very powerful.

It’s not rustic, it has a folkish texture.’ He also told me to practice a lot and said, 'You don’t yet realise the magic in your voice'," recalls Vaibhav. Music composer

Shashwat Sachdev

had heard me sing on Indian Idol and offered me the song Mann Atkeya. The process was intense and immersive. Mann Atkeya that you hear today went through several versions before reaching its final form. Initially, the composition was quite different, and multiple iterations were created.

When Shashwath sir and Aditya sir work on something, they focus on peak detailing, and that process eventually brings out the best in the song.

The fine-tuning happens at multiple levels. At one point, the track included a rap by TokeN, and later, my vocals were added, so the final version is a fusion of different ideas that evolved over time. The recording was so intense that I used to sleep in the studio for 2–3 hours and just drink black coffee,” recalls Vaibhav.

And his effort bore fruit, as when the song was released, the response took him by surprise. “On the third or the fourth day, it went viral. People are giving so much love now. I’m very blessed. I always had doubts whether people would like my voice or not, but the popularity of the song has proven me wrong.”

For emerging artists, however, he believes this is also a time of opportunity. “Musicians’ lives are the most sorted now.

You make songs, release them. The world is waiting to listen to new sounds,” he says, referring to the rise of independent music. “You have to be true to your music; everything will happen easily,” he says. As far as earnings go, Vaibhav is candid enough to say that for new singers, the moolah comes from stage shows. "When a singer makes his debut, money can not be the focal point. All a new singer wants is the song to be a hit and respect and acceptance in the industry.

Their main earnings come from stage shows. Once you are established in the industry, then things do get different. So many big names in the music industry have their musical tours today.

We earn from that. Even singers like me are doing stage shows in India and abroad and getting good money in return. In Bollywood, our main focus is always to work with the best people," he stresses. Vaibhav also credits his roots in Uttar Pradesh for shaping his diction and musical sensibility. “Our pronunciation is very clear. We know where to give a pause and where to maintain continuation,” he says, adding that he is now consciously working on refining his language further. “I have started learning Urdu; it is a must-do for a singer whose diction matters a lot in a song.” As he prepares to release new music, Vaibhav remains anchored in a simple philosophy, one that carried him through years of rejection and into the spotlight. “I never sang for the trophy. I always sang to present true music,” he stresses.