Shreya Ghoshal Revisits ‘Bairi Piya’ With New Independent Single

Singer Shreya Ghoshal has released her new independent single “Bairi Piya”, bringing a familiar phrase from the beginning of her Bollywood career into a new musical setting. The song has been released through Universal Music India and marks a personal full-circle moment for the singer.

The new track is a soft romantic song centred on the feelings that often remain unspoken between two people. It explores the nervousness and excitement of falling in love, where emotions can sometimes be conveyed through a glance rather than words. The song has been composed by Anurag Mishra, with lyrics by Anurag Mishra and Alok Ranjan Srivastava.

The song was initially made available with a 72-hour subscriber-first access window on Gaana in India before its wider release. It is now available as an independent release under Universal Music India.

Speaking about the project, Shreya said independent music has remained an important part of her journey because it gives her the freedom to explore sounds and musical approaches beyond the conventional playback space. She said every independent project has allowed her to experiment with different sounds, collaborations or ways of approaching a song.

She added that she was particularly drawn to “Bairi Piya” because of its melody and simplicity. The singer said she enjoyed exploring the song's softer, contemporary sound and described the freedom to discover different sides of herself as one of the things she values most about independent music.

The title carries special significance in Shreya's career. She made her Bollywood playback debut in 2002, at the age of 16, with the song “Bairi Piya” from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Shreya had earlier described the original “Bairi Piya” as a song that became an important part of her journey as a singer. In a social media post announcing the new track, she said she was returning to the phrase years later with a song of her own, calling the project deeply personal and a reflection of both the artist she was and the artist she has become.

Her association with Devdas went beyond the title track. She recorded five songs for the film, including “Dola Re Dola” and “Silsila Ye Chahat Ka,” with “Bairi Piya” being the first song she recorded for the film. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali had discovered her through the television singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma.

The original “Bairi Piya” also earned Shreya the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the 2002 award year.

More than two decades after that breakthrough, the new independent “Bairi Piya” gives the singer an opportunity to revisit a phrase closely associated with the start of her Hindi-film journey while exploring a different, contemporary musical identity.