Shraddha Sharma and Nikhil Swaroop have released the soulful ballad, Azal. The track is accompanied by a music video that portrays the innocence of love between a boy and a girl as they pass letters and gifts to each other. Meaning “for eternity,” the roots of Azal lie in a guitar riff composed by Swaroop who wrote the song as a reminder of the first time he fell in love with a classmate at the age of 11.

Sharma, who has worked with the esteemed likes of Grammy and Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, as well as celebrated musicians such as Shaan, Mithoon and Badshah, lends her voice as the perfect obbligato to a song that sees a boy and girl express their first love to each other.

Directed by rising Delhi-based filmmaker Pulkit Kalra and his team at Pulkitxx, the music video for Azal depicts the story of a boy and girl trying to connect with each other. In the clip, a boy takes a bracelet out of his pocket and seals it in an envelope, handing the package to the postman. Somewhere else, a girl sits at her desk, writing and scrapping many letters until she receives the boy’s gift. Overjoyed, she finally pens her feelings and seals the letter in an envelope emblazoned with a heart and butterfly, handing the message over to the postman who delivers it to the boy. Both hold their gifts close, smiling as they experience their very first love.

Says Shraddha Sharma, “I didn’t release an original all this while because no song ever felt this right for my first release. Azal is as beautiful for me as the person who has written it and I feel lucky to have my name associated with this beautiful composition. I hope people could feel the same love listening to it as we felt while making it.”

An innocent ode to childhood and love, Azal is an endearing tale of a feeling so pure it endures through time and space. Produced by ace musician Keshav Dhar, the arrangement of the song takes listeners through a journey of emotions, going from gentle to all-consuming as the harp, violin, drums and tambourine join the humble guitar to tell the story of the boy and girl. Both Sharma and Swaroop hope the song will resonate with listeners and lead them to reminisce about the first time they fell in love. Up next for Sharma is a slew of original music in 2021, while listeners can expect both Hindi and English singles from Swaroop in the year ahead.

Watch the music video for ‘Azal’ here:

https://youtu.be/5BXlpZjYPA4