Abhay Jodhpurkar’s Hindi playback debut came through “Mere Naam Tu,” a song from Aanand L. Rai’s 2018 film Zero. In a 2018 interview, Jodhpurkar traced the collaboration to a YouTube cover, recalled a recording session that began as a voice test, and described how the song challenged his usual vocal register and drew on a vulnerable period in his life.
What “Mere Naam Tu” marked in Jodhpurkar’s career
Jodhpurkar had already worked as a playback singer in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi films. The distinction is important: “Mere Naam Tu” was his Hindi cinema debut, not his first playback performance. In an interview with Scroll.in published December 16, 2018, he described a career that had begun in playback singing in 2011 after graduating from A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory. Read the Scroll.in interview.
The song appears on the Zero original motion picture soundtrack. Apple Music’s listing, dated November 23, 2018, credits Jodhpurkar as performer, Ajay–Atul for composition and production, and Irshad Kamil for lyrics. View the Apple Music listing.
How a YouTube cover led to the collaboration
Jodhpurkar said composer Ajay came across a cover of Ajay–Atul’s “Jiv Rangala” that he had included in a medley and posted on YouTube. Ajay later invited him to the studio to try a song. Jodhpurkar recalled recording “Mere Naam Tu” on October 21. The interview does not specify the year alongside that date, so it is best understood as his account of the session rather than as a separately verified date.
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He remembered the session as a voice test attended by Ajay, director Aanand L. Rai, lyricist Irshad Kamil and members of the production team. Ajay first gave him four lines and experimented with different vocal textures, then moved on to the first antara and the hookline. Jodhpurkar recalled singing the high notes of the second antara while hungry.
He also said the team and Shah Rukh Khan heard the track during the song shoot and felt his voice suited the actor. The film’s official page credits Rai as director, Ajay–Atul for music, Kamil for lyrics and Jodhpurkar among its singers; it gives the film’s release date as December 21, 2018. See the Team Shah Rukh Khan film page.
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A song that stretched his usual register
Jodhpurkar said “Mere Naam Tu” sat higher than he usually sang. He described his customary singing as being in C and the song as being in C-sharp. That is his conversational account of the difference, not a published score or a technical measurement of the recording.
He also connected the performance to a difficult time in his personal life, saying he was dealing with depression and heartbreak and had poured his vulnerabilities into the song. This was his reflection on what shaped the performance, not a claim that the song itself was intended as a clinical or autobiographical statement.
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Asked how the track differed from other romantic songs he had sung, Jodhpurkar answered: “Mere Naam Tu was a revelation.” He described romantic songs as a comfortable area for his voice while noting that he had sung other styles as well. The contrast he drew was personal: this song stood out to him for its higher register and the emotional state he brought to it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Moving between languages as a playback singer
Jodhpurkar’s earlier work across several South Indian film industries gave the Hindi debut a specific context: it was a move into Hindi cinema, not a start from scratch as a singer. In the Scroll interview, he said that singing in languages he did not know involved practice, listening to music in those languages and getting help from lyricists with pronunciation. His account highlights the preparation behind playback singing across linguistic boundaries without suggesting that fluency is required for every performance.
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