It’s not a cakewalk to reprise a classic song that has managed to strike a chord with the audience for years. As Priyanka Barve was approached to sing Bahinabai Chaudhari’s Man Vadhay Vadhay for Sagarika Music, she was excited yet apprehensive.
In an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat Assistant Editor Abhishek Ranjit over a phone call, Priyanka Barve got candid about crooning Man Vadhay Vadhay, which is an evergreen song.
Shooting for the song in Bhiwandi in 45 degrees Celsius was not easy, but Priyanka took on the challenges and the final product is already winning the hearts of the audience.
Here are excerpts from the interview
Q- What was your first reaction when you were approached to sing a contemporary version of Bahinabai Chaudhari’s timeless Man Vadhay Vadhay?
A- When I first heard that we were creating a contemporary version of Man Vadhay Vadhay by Bahinabai Chaudhari, I was extremely excited, but also a little apprehensive.
Bahinabai’s poetry is deeply rooted in Marathi culture, and I have had a personal connection with her work since childhood. I learnt and sang her poems in school under the guidance of my guru, Madhuri Tai Joshi, so this was much more than just another song for me.
What excited me most was that, despite being written decades ago, the poetry still feels incredibly relevant. The way Bahinabai observes the human mind is simple, honest and profound. I was very happy to have the opportunity to bring that poetry to a new generation through a contemporary musical sound.
Q- The song explores the restless and unpredictable nature of the human mind. How did you connect with its philosophical meaning while interpreting it vocally?
A- I approached the song quite spontaneously, much like the poetry itself. A lot of what you hear in the final version came from the moment. We experimented with long takes, improvisations and different vocal expressions to capture the personality of the song.
What makes Man Vadhay Vadhay so special is that Bahinabai doesn’t try to explain the mind. She simply observes it. There is a certain restlessness, innocence, playfulness and even a little mischief in that observation. So I felt the singing also needed to retain that rawness and freedom.
I consciously tried not to overthink the performance. I allowed the voice to respond instinctively to the words and emotions, rather than making the performance too controlled.
How did you strike the balance between preserving the soul and folk character of Bahinabai’s original composition and bringing your own identity to the song?
A- For me, the starting point was always respect for Bahinabai’s poetry, her voice and the cultural identity of the piece. Suhit has also beautifully extended the original poetry with additional writing, and the challenge was to bring these two worlds together without losing the rawness and authenticity of the original.
I also didn’t want my singing to sound overly controlled or polished. There is a certain unpredictability and freedom that is essential to this song, so we allowed ourselves to experiment with the harmonies, chorus sections and vocal textures.
I think the beauty lies in finding that space where the original essence remains intact, while the music and the voice bring something fresh to it.
Q- Suhit Abhyankar’s arrangement blends traditional elements with guitars, ambient textures and synths. How did this contemporary sound shape your approach to the vocals?
A- The contemporary arrangement actually gave me a lot of freedom as a vocalist. Because the production brings together traditional and modern textures, I didn’t feel the need to make the vocal sound overly traditional or strictly folk.
Instead, we tried to retain the earthy quality of the poetry while allowing the voice to sit naturally within this new soundscape. The guitars, ambient textures and synths create a very different world around the poetry, and that encouraged me to experiment with vocal textures, harmonies and dynamics.
At the same time, the words remained the anchor. No matter how contemporary the arrangement became, the vocal had to preserve the simplicity and rawness of Bahinabai’s expression.
Q- This is your first musical collaboration with Suhit Abhyankar. What was the creative experience of working with him like in the studio?
A- This was my first collaboration with Suhit, and I really enjoyed the creative freedom he brought into the studio. Approaching a poem as iconic as Man Vadhay Vadhay with sensitivity is not easy, and writing additional poetry around Bahinabai’s original work is an even greater challenge. Suhit has managed to create a contemporary world around it without losing the essence of the original thought.
As a composer, he also gave me a lot of freedom to explore and experiment. We created harmonies and chorus parts on the spot, played with vocal textures and tried different approaches to the melody.
That made the recording feel less like a rigid process and more like a genuine collaboration. I think the best creative experiences happen when there is trust and freedom between the people in the room, and Suhit created exactly that environment.
Was there a particular line or emotion in Man Vadhay Vadhay that stayed with you personally while recording the song?
A- For me, it was less about one particular line and more about the larger thought behind the poem. The idea that we spend our entire lives trying to understand ourselves, and yet the mind continues to surprise us.
I find that incredibly relatable. The mind can be restless, unpredictable, playful and contradictory, sometimes all at once. What I love about Bahinabai is that she observes all of this with such innocence and honesty rather than trying to over-intellectualise it.
That thought stayed with me throughout the recording and influenced the way I approached the vocal.
Q- Bahinabai Chaudhari’s poetry continues to resonate across generations despite its simplicity. What do you think makes her words so timeless?
A- I think it is precisely that simplicity that makes Bahinabai’s poetry timeless. She speaks about complex emotions and experiences in a language that is deeply rooted in everyday life. There is no pretence in her writing. She observes people, relationships, nature and the human mind with incredible honesty.
And while the world around us has changed, the human mind hasn’t changed that much. We are still restless, curious, emotional, conflicted and constantly trying to understand ourselves. That is why her words continue to feel relevant across generations.
Q- Do you believe contemporary reinterpretations like this can help younger audiences discover and connect with Marathi folk music and poetry?
A- Absolutely. I think contemporary interpretations can create a very natural entry point for younger listeners. The beauty of our folk music and poetry is that the emotions are universal. Sometimes all that is needed is a musical language that feels familiar to a new generation.
When traditional poetry is presented with contemporary production while retaining its original soul, it can make younger audiences curious about where the words came from and encourage them to explore the original work as well.
For me, that is one of the most beautiful things about this song. It isn’t replacing the original. It is creating another doorway into it.
Q- The music video was shot in Bhiwandi during temperatures of nearly 45°C. What was the experience like, and did the challenging shoot influence your connection with the song?
A- The shoot was definitely an experience we won’t forget. We were shooting in extremely challenging heat, with temperatures close to 45°C, and there were moments when we were literally melting through the day.
There were also a few unexpected challenges. The costume that had been specially made for the song tore during the shoot, and we had to find a solution on the spot. Somehow, we managed to find a traditional lehenga choli locally and continued.
But I think those challenges also brought the entire team together. Everyone was so committed to the vision that the spirit of the team remained incredibly positive.
Sagarika’s visualisation also deserves a lot of credit. The earthy sets, dancers, costumes and small details beautifully complement the rawness of the poetry. So even though the shoot was physically demanding, seeing how everything came together made it completely worthwhile.
