Aashima Mahajan: From Jammu to the Spotlight [Singer, Actor, Vocal Coach, 30.9K Followers, India]

Aashima Mahajan Interview

"Somewhere along the way, music quietly became the language my heart understood the best."

Aashima Mahajan, actor, singer, and vocal coach, reflects on how leaving Jammu, embracing uncertainty, and trusting chance encounters shaped her musical journey.
In this interview, she shares why music became "the language my heart understood the best" and how purpose, perseverance, and art led her from childhood dreams to the professional stage.

Q. Can you introduce yourself to our audience and tell us how your journey in music began?

I am Aashima Mahajan. I am from the beautiful valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, and I stay in Mumbai now. My journey in music began when my parents started noticing that I had an inclination towards music. They would see me noticing the patterns in songs, and even as a child, I was always curious about how music made me feel. While nobody else in the family was listening to ghazals, I found myself completely drawn to them. I was hooked on to music all the time—different kinds, different styles—right from my childhood. 

Somewhere along the way, music quietly became the language my heart understood the best. Then I started singing in school assemblies, competitions, and every opportunity I got, while also being a really good student at school. Finally, I started looking for a music school in India that was versatile enough to cater to my needs, and that’s when I found KM Music Conservatory in Chennai. And that’s a short trip down memory lane of how it all started, and how it finally reached a point where I formally learnt music—surrounded by great, great, great teachers and musicians. Looking back, every little moment somehow found its way into the music I create today.

Q. How did you start your journey as a singer, and what inspired you to choose this path?

As I already told you how my journey as a singer started and what inspired me to choose this path, my inspiration was, majorly, how music made me feel. When I was a child, around six or seven years old, playback singing and indie music were at their peak. 

I grew up listening to Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Alka Yagnik, Hariharan ji, Bollywood songs, and indie music alike. The beautiful albums that used to come out during those years, Alisha Chinoy, Colonial Cousins, lucky Ali, Asha Ji had some indie numbers too, so the list is endless. My special attraction was towards AR Rahman songs. I remember being the “dheeme dheeme gaun” girl from the school. Everyone remembers me like that. Nothing made me feel more alive than the thought that one day, I would also be doing all this. Somewhere deep inside, that dream had already found a home, much before I even knew how I would get there.

Q. You come from Jammu and later moved to Mumbai to build your career. What challenges did you face while leaving your hometown and adapting to a new city?

It’s been almost 15 years since I’ve been away from home, so I can’t even begin to put into words the number of challenges I faced while moving away from my hometown. Jammu is a very simple city where people are down to earth, warm, and affectionate. The pace of life is relatively slower than the rest of India. So, moving to a city like Mumbai is completely the opposite. It’s a culture shock, it’s a pace shock. There are so many new things that you have to adapt to as a small-town girl. But Mumbai wasn’t the direct shift. After Jammu, I first moved to Chennai for my course, and four years later, I shifted to Mumbai. So, it was like a soft blow in the face and not a complete shock. 

The biggest challenge, though, was leaving behind the comfort of my parents, my brother and sister, their love, and their warmth, and moving to a city where I knew absolutely no one. That, for me, was the hardest part. I had no contacts whatsoever in the industry. But somewhere along the way, the unfamiliar slowly started becoming home. And I realized that sometimes, the biggest dreams ask you to leave behind the places that first taught you how to dream.

Q. You got the opportunity to become the lead singer in the famous play Mughal-e-Azam. How did this opportunity come to you, and was there any special moment or story behind it?

Becoming the lead singer in the famous Mughal-e-Azam is quite a story in my life, to be honest. It’s something I often end up sharing at get-togethers whenever people ask me how it all happened. If I have to tell you the short version, it goes like this. I was at a party in Lower Parel, just partying my way through the evening with two friends, when somebody approached me and asked me to sing. At that moment, I wasn’t really in the mood to sing. But towards the end of the party, that person came back and requested me to sing Lag Jaa Gale. While I was singing, a girl named Kalyani walked up to me and said, “Oh my God, you have such a beautiful voice. It was my dad’s favourite song. Would you please sing the whole song for me?” And I did. 

Three months later, this same girl called me and asked me to audition for this role followed by calls from Mukesh Chhabra office. At that time, I wasn’t even in Mumbai. I was in McLeod Ganj with my brother, sister, and cousins. To be honest, I was also a little disappointed with a lot of things happening in Mumbai back then, and I was very young. But I thought, okay, I’ll come for the audition. With a lot of difficulty, I made it to Mumbai post my birth day with my fam. About ten days later, I gave the audition, and I got selected. And so many stories that followed after that. Initially, I wasn’t even cast as the first lead. I was brought in as the second lead, and eventually I was chosen as the final lead for Bahaar’s role. So yes, there’s a whole story behind it. Sometimes you meet people for a reason, and this was one of those special moments that quietly changed the course of my life.

Q. A. R. Rahman is known as a legendary music director and singer who has shaped many artists’ careers. How was your experience working with him, and what guidance did you receive from him?

A. R. Rahman sir has seen me grow from being a student at the conservatory to finding my own path in Mumbai. Then, after doing musical theatre, I got the opportunity to work with him. Last year, I sang for Thug Life, and at the time, I didn’t even know that I was singing for Thug Life. So, in many ways, it’s been a beautiful arc of the journey. He is a legendary music director, as you said. But apart from that, he is a legendary human being. To everyone he works with, he gives a certain kind of power. The way he talks to you, the way he works with artists and everyone around him, he genuinely wants to know how each person can collaborate with him, how together we can make the music better, the song better, the final piece of art better. 

He is always working towards making the art better. And for that, even if he has to step back and let another artist do their thing, he does that. Whatever serves the art the best, that’s what he chooses. I think that is a very rare quality. Over the years, apart from his incredible musicality, which gives me a lot of peace, I have admired him deeply as a person. You spend some time with him, and he somehow charges you up with a really beautiful spirit. He makes you want to work harder, dream bigger, and dedicate yourself even more to the spirit of art. I truly admire him for who he is. To me, he is like the sun—quietly sharing his light with everyone around him without asking for anything in return. And all of us, in one way or another, simply want to stand in that light for a while. That’s the kind of person he is.

Q. What's one book, movie or series that has personally moved you or brought you comfort. And why should others experience it too?

I’ve always been drawn towards understanding the human mind. Even before mental health became a mainstream conversation, I found myself reading, observing, and believing that emotional well-being deserved far more attention in our country. So, if I had to recommend one book, one movie, and one series that truly moved me and stayed with me, these would be my picks. The book is You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay. It is a beautiful guide that encourages you to look within and heal yourself, one day at a time. 

Whether you agree with every idea or not, it invites you to have a deeper conversation with yourself, and that’s what stayed with me. The movie would be Taare Zameen Par. I remember watching it and feeling so deeply seen. At that time, we didn’t even have the language to talk about gentle parenting, emotional needs, or how childhood shapes us. It gave a voice to emotions that many of us had felt but never knew how to express. And the series has to be This Is Us. I remember watching it season after season and crying, healing, smiling, and reflecting. There’s so much love, so much humanity, and so much comfort in that story. It gently reminds you that we’re all carrying something, and we’re all trying our best. And if I could sneak in one more, it would definitely be Ted Lasso. It leaves you with hope, kindness, and the feeling that a little compassion can go a very long way.

Bio: 

Aashima Mahajan is an actor, vocal coach, and singer. She started her music journey when she is six or seven years old, the indie music inspired her to sing like other singers and she grown up to listening famous singers like Sonu Nigam, Hariharan, Asha Bhosle etc. she found herself music is what that give her new pace, new ideas to explore and think. Later, she started her journey in Bollywood as a playback singer. And achieving milestones that she thought about that.



Instagram

Interviewed by: Vanshika Gupta