Priya Saraiya

Priya Panchal, on stage at six

She was born Priya Panchal in Mumbai, with Gujarati roots, and started singing when she was six. Her training ran on two tracks: Hindustani classical vocals, and Western music.

As a child performer she toured with Little Wonders, the young singers' troupe of the composer duo Kalyanji–Anandji — stage shows at home and abroad, long before any studio.

The first lyrics

Her Hindi film writing began in 2011: four songs for F.A.L.T.U., and additional lyrics for Shor in the City — including Saibo — still credited to Priya Panchal. A Gujarati word in a Hindi film title was an early sign of where she comes from.

That same year, Baat Jo Thi from Yeh Dooriyan earned her a Mirchi Music Awards nomination for Upcoming Lyricist of the Year.

Words and voice, in the family studio

She is married to Jigar Saraiya, one half of the composer duo Sachin–Jigar — and they are her most frequent collaborators. She wrote the whole Ramaiya Vastavaiya soundtrack (2013), co-wrote Badlapur (2015) with Dinesh Vijan, including Jeena Jeena and Judaai, and wrote Hoor for Hindi Medium (2017).

For ABCD 2 she wrote and sang Sun Saathiya with Divya Kumar — a song whose scratch version had already featured in the first ABCD. It brought her a Filmfare nomination for Best Female Playback Singer.

"We have always been a happy working family."— the headline of her 2017 Mid-day interview

Gujarati, in her own voice

In 2018 she released Birdaadi, a Gujarati single she composed, wrote and sang herself, followed by the Hindi single Loot in 2019. In 2020 came Saibo Re, a Gujarati duet with Kirtidan Gadhvi, and in 2021 she was part of the non-stop Navratri set Chalo Ramiye.

On stage she sings both worlds — Hindi film songs and Gujarati music.

Vaarso — an inheritance, passed on

Vaarso means inheritance. She launched the series in Ahmedabad in January 2023, with Sachin–Jigar at the launch: Gujarati garba, devotional songs, folk, fusion and ghazal, sung by established names and new voices side by side.

Season 1 brought in artists such as Aditya Gadhvi, Sangeeta Labadiya, Vandana Gadhavi and Jaydev Gosai. Rang Morla sets the words of the poet Dula Bhaya Kag. Later seasons welcomed Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan, Geeta Rabari, Rekha Bhardwaj, Shubha Mudgal, Hemant Chauhan and Sonu Nigam.

"Through this initiative we will promote new-comers as well as youngsters."— at the Vaarso launch, Ahmedabad, 2023