Arijit Singh Releases ‘laiyaan’ Months After Quitting Bollywood Playback Singing; Fans Say It Feels ‘like A Warm Hug You Didn’t Know You Needed’
Months after announcing his retirement from Bollywood playback singing, Arijit Singh is back — just not where most expected him to be.
On April 16, Singh released “Laiyaan” alongside singer Ruaa Kayy across streaming platforms. The track, composed and produced by RUTVXK, marks a deliberate step away from mainstream film music toward something more personal and independent.
The sound reflects that intent. Built around restraint rather than scale, “Laiyaan” leans into mood, space, and lyrical intimacy a far cry from the big-budget Bollywood productions Singh became synonymous with.
Listeners noticed the difference almost immediately. Within hours of release, the track drew a strong response online. “Arijit’s voice hits different when he’s free from Bollywood this feels so pure and emotional,” one fan wrote on YouTube. Another commented on Ruaa Kayy’s contribution: “What a pairing didn’t expect Ruaa Kayy’s voice to stand out like this. She deserves more recognition.” A third simply said: “This song feels like a warm hug you didn’t know you needed.”
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Singh spoke about what the recording meant to him. “Laiyaan was a great opportunity to connect back. It was a meditative experience while singing it. Harjyot and Ritvik composed it with a lot of love, which gave me the perfect state of heart. I am grateful to the composers for giving me this opportunity to feel the unspoken. Harjot and Ritvik are rare talents who understand soulful music. I am sure a great listener will love this music,” he said.
Ruaa Kayy, whose real name is Harjot Kaur, described the process as unusually collaborative. “Collaborating on this felt very organic. There was a lot of listening involved, not just to the music but to each other. Working alongside Arijit Dada, who has shaped so many songs that people connect with emotionally, was a learning experience in itself. It made me more aware of how less can sometimes say more and how important it is to stay true to the feeling rather than over-perform it,” she said.
Composer Ritvik added: “This collaboration came together very naturally. The idea wasn’t to build something around scale, but around a shared sensibility. Arijit has always brought a certain emotional clarity to the projects he’s part of, and that really set the tone for how we approached it. We kept going back to the same thought just keep it honest; don’t overcomplicate it. That helped shape not just the sound but the entire process.”