New-age singer Jubin Nautiyal has recorded quite a few recreated numbers such as The Humma Song, Raat baaki, Pehla Nasha Once Again, and his latest, Bewafa tera masoom chehra. The singer claims when he approaches an old hit or classic number for recreation, he does so as a fan of the original song.

"I am lucky that so far all the recreated versions I have been a part of have never got any negativity or hatred from listeners. It started with 'The Humma Song' followed by many, but every time it worked. At least people did not criticise or say that I have tampered with the original song. The reason is, I approach every recreation as the fan of the song," Jubin claimed while speaking to IANS.

"In all the recreations, including my latest 'Bewafa tera masoom chehra', I look at the song as an opportunity in which I can express how all my life I loved and admired that song. For me, it is not about singing this many numbers of songs, but about a new genre that I am trying. In 'Bewafa tera masoom chehra', I tried my hand in qawwali for the first time, and it was about how Jubin Nautiyal would sound in a qawwali," he declared.

'Bewafa tera masoom chehra' is an original number sung by the late Mohammed Aziz in 1997. The recreation has been done by Rochak Kohli. The video of the song is directed by Navjit Buttar and it features Karan Mehra and Ihana Dhillon.

Jubin, of course, has crafted a huge fan base for himself with his original numbers. His hits include "Tum hi aana", "Humnava mere", "Ek mulakat", "Meherbani", "Bandeyaa", "Tere liye", and "Kaabil hoon" among numerous others.

Jubin says mixing his credible originals with recreations is part of his "intelligent" career choices.

"I am making some intelligent choices in my career. I sing a song, if I feel it is right. I do not even look at whether it is a recreation, a song for a film, TV show or a jingle. When I listen to a composition, I try to see if I can bring something on the table as a vocalist. If I can, I will sing it," he said.

"As far as original songs are concerned, I think so far I must have done 150 songs, and 100 of them are original. I must have touched 30 recreations, but my original songs also worked, including songs like 'Humnava mere' which was an independent song, 'Tum hi aana' from the film 'Marjaavaan' and many others. The common thread in all these songs is nothing but my voice. Listeners loved them, so I thank them!" Jubin signed off.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)