Thomson Andrews: I was not aware Jaldi Aao was a Money Heist song until I went to record it!

The promo released by Netflix India has amassed over a million views on Youtube and is trending on social media. In a candid chat with OTTPlay, singer and songwriter Thomson Andrews, who worked on the project, speaks about its making and much more.

The project involves several seasoned singers and actors from across the country. Andrews says, “It's called Jaldi Aao, it's like a parody, and has everyone from Anil Kapoor, Shruthi Haasan to all these Bollywood stars, people from the Telugu industry, and several other actors. It's promoting the hype surrounding Money Heist season five that everyone's waiting for. And, you know, it's basically a song which everyone from different cultures is singing in their unique way. Jaldi Aao is a very ‘desi’ take on the Bella Ciao song."

Andrews, who worked on other Netflix projects such as Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story and Ludo, and Disney films such as Aladdin, The Lion King, and Frozen says, “When I got to the studio to sing the song, I was not aware that this was a Money Heist song. And Sunayana Sarkar, who was the supervisor for the song, just asked me if I was ready to sing on this track. I was ready and prepping to start the dubb. When the studio engineer played the song, I was like, oh my God, this is the Money Heist song, I had no clue.”

Andrews, who calls himself one of the biggest fans of the Spanish show, says getting to sing the promo track was overwhelming. The RnB singer also shares his delight in working with music producer Nucleya. “I've worked with Nucleya before on the Amazon Prime reality show, The Remix, that I took part in. He was the judge, and I was one of the finalists. We've also worked on a project or two, and to sing for him again, was just amazing. It was a fantastic project to work on with Nucleya,”, he says.

Though it was a fantastic project to work on, Andrews admits that it was equally challenging. “There were a couple of different vocal nuances and approaches that each of us singers had to use, because of the different languages and the quirky lyrics. Sometimes, we had to sing in a deeper voice when singing in Telugu or Tamil. I had to experiment with a lower key, then I had to sing at a high pitch as well, and then sing in a normal voice. So there were a lot of things in terms of different octaves of my voice and singing in different grooves and musical styles. Since there are different languages, the delivery also needed to be different. It wasn't a conventional song where you come and do your thing. The only suggestion I could hear again and again is ‘Thomson, make sure that there is enough energy and excitement", he shares.

Just like most people who love binge-watching TV shows on Netflix and are awaiting the release of the final season of the heist crime drama, Andrews admits that he too can’t wait for September 3. “I’m a massive fan of the show, I’m over the moon and super excited,” he says and signs off.