Aug 03, 2026 10:00pm IST
Siddharth Basrur on singing for ‘Toxic’: ‘Yash was concerned about my pronunciation in Kannada’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Indie singer Siddharth Basrur has wooed the nation with his multiple-language version renditions of the second single from “Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups”: “Madhosh,” co-composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arslan Nizami and Faheem Abdullah. The singer, who has lent his voice to Tamil superstars like Rajinikanth and Thalapathy Vijay in the past, talks about how he bagged this song and Yash’s reaction to the final version in an exclusive conversation with Variety India.
You have sung the romantic track ‘Madhosh’ in Hindi and released it as ‘Manamohaka’ in Kannada, ‘Manasaagadhe’ in Telugu, ‘Thadumaarudhe’ in Tamil, and ‘Madhumohini’ in Malayalam for ‘Toxic.’ How was the experience?
I am originally from Karnataka, but my mother tongue is Konkani. But a lot of credit goes to the language supervisors who worked tirelessly with me. Tanishk Bagchi and the audio engineering team were patient because it takes time to get the pronunciation right. Then you must get the notes right. You have to get the feel right and the timing, too. So, it’s a very delicate recipe. And it’s very difficult to get everything right and that too, not just one language. Each day we were working on one language. It was also probably the toughest song I’ve ever had to sing in my career, as dialects are so different from each other. Initially, I was given a part of the song just to figure out whether my voice was suitable or not. The Hindi version was fine. So, I had a pretty good idea of the overall vibe of the song. But in other languages, I kind of went in blind. And that’s also the exciting part of it because you get to meet new people every day.
Which language did you find the toughest?
I think for me, the ones that took the longest were Tamil and Malayalam, if I’m not mistaken. You have to place your tongue on the soft palate of your mouth to pronounce words in a certain way. So, to get that right was a bit tricky. But thankfully, the language supervisors worked with me, and it was a job well done.
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What was the vibe when you were recording this song?
From the first time I heard the scratch, I just knew I really wanted this to work for me. And, I wanted my voice to work for this song as well, because that’s what’s most important. At the end of the day, it’s not about you, it’s about the song. It’s about the film. What it brings to the screen. I’m really grateful to the entire team for having that faith in me. They’ve all been so incredibly supportive.
Did you get to interact with Yash before the song?
As he’s also one of the producers, I did get to interact with him, but not in person. I spoke to him over the phone after the first few versions were done. And he did tell me he loved my voice, but obviously his main concern was the pronunciation in Kannada. There were a few ifs and buts here and there. But we managed to iron those creases out as well.
What was the experience of singing for Rajinikanth in ‘Vettaiyan’ and ‘Coolie?’
It was an honor to sing twice for him. And I was really fortunate that Anirudh Ravichander’s team was very supportive and flew me in for the audio release as well. Rajni, sir, was sitting right in front of me when I was performing. So, it was incredible. I didn’t get to interact with him personally, but it was great.
You have sung for many big South stars, be it Thalapathy Vijay, Sudeep and now Yash. So, does it call for a specific kind of prep when you sing for them?
It depends on what the content of the lyrics is and what the film is about. Because most of the songs are very situational. In most cases, either the director or music director will brief me if I’m singing in a language that I’m unfamiliar with. It can get a little daunting. You need to understand the essence of the song and convey it with emotion.
You have sung many popular numbers. Any favorites?
“Madhosh” tops my list right now. I’m on a high because of all the love I’m receiving. It’s amazing to see the reactions. I’m constantly tracking the numbers as I am very deeply invested in this film.
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