Love, says playback singer and composer Papon, is everywhere: in the rustling of trees, the flight of a butterfly, the changing seasons, and in the quiet moments that take your breath away. This Valentine’s Day, the voice behind some of Bollywood’s most soul-stirring romantic tracks opens up about what love truly means to him. Known for songs like Bulleya and Kyon that have become anthems for lovers across generations, Papon believes that romance isn’t just about grand declarations; it’s about mystery, imagination, and the beautiful journey of discovering someone’s heart. In a candid conversation during his visit to Lucknow, he reflects on how love has evolved, why music remains its most honest language, and what makes a song, or a moment, truly romantic.
Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas
To mark Valentine’s Day, we asked Papon to share the romantic songs that have stayed with him over the years: tracks that capture the poetry, passion, and honesty of love across languages and eras. “So, all these songs have beautiful poetry, which is the most important thing. The marriage of the poetry and the melody, and the way they have been sung; it’s all in sync. The honesty, you know, not of the wordplay, but of the feelings, is what makes it so relatable and so romantic,” he explains.Love in seven melodies: Papon’s Valentine’s playlist
- Hum Aapki Aankhon Mein
- Unforgettable by Nat King Cole
- Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
- La Vie en Rose by Louis Armstrong
- Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas
Kaun Mera - Phagunare Pasuwa Baa
Hum Aapki…
The romance in everythingFor Papon, romance isn’t confined to relationships alone. “I feel romantic, you know, so far not for a person itself, but when you feel romance, you feel romance in the air, right? The romance of everything. I find everything very romantic, like the season, the trees, flowers, butterflies. And that’s, for me romance is a bigger thing than just with a person,” he shares.The ideal love songWhen asked to define what makes an ideal love song, Papon smiled and said, “If you ask me to compose a love song right now, it would depend on the situation, the emotion, the moment. What I would definitely do is keep mystery in the song: the mystery of how you look, how you feel, how you smell. That sense of the unknown, the unspoken, the imagined. Mystery of romance is love song for me. That’s what makes it timeless, what makes it stay with you long after the music stops.”
Kaun Mera
Music as the language of vibrationsWhen asked why music remains the perfect medium to express love, Papon gets philosophical. “Music heals, they say. Music can change mood. Music can cut across conversations and make a feeling reach your heart. The sole reason is music is vibration. Everything in the world is vibration; even thought is a vibration. So music is very clearly a vibration because it’s sound, and sound works in different frequencies. It is scientifically possible to move someone’s brain and trigger chemical releases that make you feel good or bad or sad or happy through these frequencies. And what better than music, which is actually the best of them all.”
(L) Tears in Heaven (R) Papon (BCCL/ Manas Mishra)
Love in totalityDefining love proves to be a layered conversation for Papon. “Love is something where I think you accept in totality everything of someone you like, love basically. This is kind of cliché but, you accept someone with all the flaws and limitations they have for their whatever, you know, behavioural traits, everything. But you accept it in a holistic manner, right? So love is beyond appreciating beauty.”On how his understanding of romance has evolved over the years, he reflects, “See, evolution of this whole, if it’s a relationship and understanding of love, obviously changes. Initially I think when you are young the love is very robust and it is very energetic and it is very intense in terms of, you go blind with everything. Later stage you understand love is. Love is not just the intensity and all, but it’s also the totality of something when you see the bigger picture of the beauty of love which is not just look or a sound or a voice or a smell, but beyond that.”
Phagunare Pasuwa Baa
The role of art and cinemaOn how movies and music reflect and shape society, Papon explains, “Movies show what the present society is like. Earlier, Jagjit Singh used to sing about Chaudhvin Ka Chand with that slow burn; society was like that, so songs were written like that. Now society is different, so films are made accordingly. Back then you had Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval type movies, those beautiful small films. Whatever the society is, that’s what’s shown in movies. Art has that role to play, to keep reminding what love and values are. At the same time, movies also have to cater to what’s happening around, otherwise people don’t connect.”The Playlist
- Hum Aapki Aankhon Mein “I think this is the best romantic duet ever, both in the way it is written and the way it has been sung.”
- Unforgettable by Nat King Cole “Obviously, is such a classic; how beautifully it’s sung, how beautiful the music is, and the mood; it’s forever one of those.”
- Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton “Which is beautiful for the imagery and how it’s imagined.”
- La Vie en Rose by Louis Armstrong: “This song just transports me to another world, a dream world; it’s beautiful.”
- Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas: “This song brings so much peace to me. This is also my wife Shweta’s favorite and there are a lot of memories attached to it in that way.”
- Kaun Mera: “My personal favorite! This is by M M Keeravani from Special 26, is the most honest, beautiful song I think I have sung.”
- Phagunare Pasuwa Baa “My first-ever original composition, the first song of my first album, written by
Keshab Mahanta . I think no one can write like that; the poetry and the imagery are just unbelievable.”
-Manas Mishra
