Vishal Mishra
photo: pranav100104 · cc0 ↗Born in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, and raised in Lucknow, Vishal Mishra is an Indian singer and music composer who broke through with the aching Bollywood ballad "Kaise Hua" from Kabir Singh (2019). Guided early in his career by composer Lalit Pandit of the Jatin-Lalit duo, he built a signature blend of Hindustani melodic sensibility and contemporary pop production, playing many of the instruments on his own tracks. Across film songs and independent singles he has become one of the defining voices of 2020s Hindi romantic pop.
Mishra has cited A.R. Rahman among his musical influences, and his productions share Rahman's taste for lush, layered arrangements and a devotional, spiritually tinged swell that lifts a simple romantic melody into something larger than a love song.
listen forPut on Rahman's Sufi qawwali "Kun Faya Kun" and then the slow build of "Pehle Bhi Main" - both start hushed and reverent before opening into a wide, aching crescendo of voice and strings that treats longing as something close to worship.
Mishra has cited John Mayer among his influences, and traces of Mayer's singer-songwriter craft surface in Mishra's guitar-forward independent singles, where the melody rests over clean, expressive electric guitar instead of a full filmi orchestra.
listen forPlay Mayer's "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" and then "Aaj Bhi" - both are slow, intimate heartbreak songs carried by a warm, vocal-like electric-guitar tone and an unhurried, conversational vocal.
Mishra names Pritam among the contemporary Bollywood composers he admires, and like Pritam he builds radio-friendly Hindi love songs on simple, singable melodic hooks wrapped in warm, acoustic-guitar-led production rather than dense orchestration.
listen forFollow Pritam's title track "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" with Mishra's "Manjha" - hear the same move of a plainspoken, guitar-cradled verse rising into a big, heart-on-sleeve hook built for the listener to sing straight back.