The True-Blue Boy — Darshan Raval

April 28, 2023

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From competing with emerging talents to fighting off deep-rooted nepotism in Bollywood — singer-actor Darshan Raval inspires thousands.

Music has the exceptional power to evoke pure connections and to transcend your mind into an imaginative world. One such paradox can be witnessed while listening to the soothing voice of Darshan Raval. With 3.6 million subscribers on a popular video channel and 15.8 million followers on his social media account, Raval has soulfully made his abode in the people’s hearts. A down-to-earth person and heartthrob of a million girls, the singer-composer-songwriter-actor has his name engraved in the hall of fame. Raval is the young voice behind several heartfelt songs and is recognised as one of India’s most popular, new-generation male singers. As the master of independent song albums, his melodious voice is quickly recognisable by anyone.

The Unknown Star

Despite being an outsider commonly known as somebody with no blood ties to the music industry, Raval made his way forward with sheer dedication and hard work. Born on October 18th 1994, in a typical Gujarati family, he is Rajendra Raval and Rajal Raval’s only child. His primitive schooling was completed at Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul, Ahmedabad. Rooting from a creative background, Raval was always inclined toward music. His father, who was a writer by profession and passion, wanted him to become an engineer and do wonders in the academic stream.

Contrary to this, the multifaceted singer faced difficulty attaining excellence in his studies; he was even expelled from college due to poor performance. Without any professional training to play any musical instrument, the singer learnt to strum the guitar through online uploaded content. In retrospect, Raval recalls how his friends and close ones always told him to recognise his talent and pushed him towards pursuing his dreams. Confused, conflicted and disheartened, Raval recognised his musical consciousness and started aspiring for his dream career.

Chogada singer skillfully stirred the nation with his distinctive presence in a reality show conducted by Honey Singh in 2014. As the first runner-up of the show, the chocolate boy won several hearts and manoeuvred his path towards music. All the lovers reminisced about their first love on listening to the singer’s first ever music album, ‘Pehli Mohabbat‘ released in the same year. Although his heartwarming win and release of the music album blurred the gap between him and his success, Raval’s musical song has just begun playing with millions of views within a week.

The Big Break

The year 2015 paved a big break in Bollywood through Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd’s Production’s ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ starring Raval’s favourite actor, Salman Khan with Sonam Kapoor. Jab Tum Chaaho from the film turned out to be a big hit. In several interviews, the self-made singer gratified the support of Himesh Reshammiya as a critical factor in his success, designated as his esteemed mentor. Simultaneously, he made his singing debut in Gujarati Film Industry with the song It’s Time To Party from the film ‘Whisky Is Risky’. Contributing his voice to films like ‘Tera Suroor’, ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’, ‘Romance Complicated’ and ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’, Raval artfully inched every way forward into Bollywood’s musical zone. He is known for his work in different languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Bengali.

Apart from soulful love songs, he has also contributed to making amazing dance numbers like Chogada from ‘Loveyatri’, Kamariya from ‘Mitron’ and Odhani from ‘Made In China’, which became the party anthem for many days. He also collaborated with several well-known singers, such as Shreya Ghoshal, Himesh Reshammiya and Neeti Mohan.

Of Awards & Accolades

The talented singer won awards for Transmedia Gujarati Screen and Stage Award as Best Male Singer in 2015. He won GIFA awards the next year and was ranked 45 in The Times Most Desirable Men in 2017.

He also owns a music band named ‘Dip Zip Band’. As many would have thought, Raval’s acoustical journey was not a cakewalk, confronting self-doubt and constant challenges he attained this fame slowly but surely. He believes his real journey began after his debut at a reality show, “When Rawstar happened I was a normal boy who used to play the guitar with a band and there were no responsibilities. But after Rawstar my admirers had expectations from me, everything was new for me, negative comments like people tend to forget reality show artists created new levels of pressure, I was confused.” Adding to this Raval mentioned, “It’s a long learning process, I started learning to cope with this and learn how things work in this industry.” A challenging project he reminisces about is the release of the song Needa Padadhani from the Telugu film ‘Jersey’ in 2019. He had to learn the pronunciation of the lyrics first and then record the song. The versatile singer continued releasing several singles including Tera Zikr, Asal Mein, Ek Tarfa, Tere Naal, Judaiyaan and Barsaat. Over the years, he has garnered a reputation for himself as a singer, composer, songwriter and actor. Despite his tender age in his musical career at 28-years-old, he has sung more than 100 songs in different languages.

The Musical Beloved

The heartthrob’s social media accounts swamped with charming pictures that get his admirers drooling over his personality and good looks. THis boy-next-door style has evolved over the years. From wearing spectacles and exuding those innocent looks in his early days to being a hunk now, Raval surely knows how to allure his admirers, though the actor has often kept away from a mention of relationships or his feelings. As the most eligible bachelor, his girl fan-following brims him with gifts, proposals and emoji-filled comments. His love for the monsoon season is highlighted through his numerous songs related to the romantic season such as Ye Baarish, Baarish Lete Aana and Baarishon Mein.

Abiding by the saying ‘Tit-for-Tat’, Raval gracefully deals with hate comments. In an interview, he sarcastically mentioned how he has made fake accounts to deal with his haters. He has conducted many concerts and live shows. People found solace in his soul-touching voice. A genuinely humble actor, Darshan Raval is a true gem for the music industry. His ever-charming personality and supreme talent make him the most unconventional and versatile artist in the industry.