- Featuring “Badeela,” “Saajan,” “Maaru,” “Sheesh Mahal” and “Jeev ri Jadi” and the title track “Pardesi” the six-track project brings stories rooted in Rajasthan’s rich cultural landscape.
- Rooted in Rajasthani culture and contemporary in sound, Pardesi explores stories of love, separation, community and changing times.
National, October 09, 2026: Music composer and singer Anurag Saikia has released his newest album Pardesi under BL/UR a new pop label by Believe India. A deeply rooted yet contemporary body of work inspired by the landscapes, folklore, language and emotional textures of Rajasthan. Spanning six songs, the album moves between stories of love and separation, village life, folklore and social observation, bringing together traditional Rajasthani imagery with Anurag’s contemporary musical sensibility.
Anurag Saikia’s Pardesi brings together five songs that explore love, longing, folklore, community and the contradictions of modern life, all through a distinctly Rajasthani lens. The album features “Badeela,” a slow-burning love story built around fleeting glances, intimate details and the quiet transformation of falling deeply in love. “Saajan” sung by Divya Kumar, captures the ache of a newly married woman separated from her beloved, moving from loneliness and longing towards an emotional reunion.
“Maaru,” inspired by Rajasthan’s timeless love folklore, traces two lovers bound by destiny but tested by distance and circumstance. “Pardesi” takes a playful turn, following a young village girl whose secret encounter with a stranger and a lost silver anklet become the subject of whispers, capturing the innocence, mischief and social gaze surrounding young love in a close-knit community.
Rounding off the album is Sheeshmahal, A grand romantic promise where love turns imagination into extravagance: building palaces, chasing dreams, and giving your beloved the world. Together, the six songs create a world where traditional imagery and stories meet contemporary sound, allowing Rajasthan’s emotional and cultural landscape to speak to a wider, modern audience.
Anurag Saikia says, “This project came from my fascination with the stories, sounds and emotions that exist within Rajasthan. I wanted to explore different sides of the region, its love stories, folklore, humour, relationships and even the way we look at life today, without making the music feel like a recreation of the past. Each song has its own character, but they are all connected by this idea of being rooted in something real while finding a contemporary voice. For me, it has been about keeping the soil in the soul, while letting the sound evolve.”
With Pardesi, Anurag Saikia brings together a collection of stories that are deeply rooted in Rajasthan yet speak to emotions that transcend geography and language. From the intimacy of love and separation to folklore, village life, social observation and the complexities of a digitally driven world, each song adds a different shade to the larger narrative. Now available across streaming platforms, the album reflects Anurag’s continuing exploration of how regional stories and sounds can evolve into contemporary music while retaining their cultural soul, connecting the richness of tradition with the present.
Listen to the album “Pardesi” here: https://bfan.link/pardesi-2
About BL/UR:
Inspired by the idea of blurring the lines between traditional genres, formats and artistic disciplines, BL/UR is built around a simple belief: the future of Indian Pop doesn’t have to fit into a single mould. The imprint brings together diverse genres, sounds and creative influences to challenge the conventional blueprint of Hindi music and create something distinctly modern. BL/UR provides artists with a platform to explore new creative directions, collaborate across genres and push the boundaries of what Indian Pop can sound and feel like. By bringing together different musical worlds, the imprint aims to pioneer a fresh, contemporary sound that reflects the evolving tastes, influences and identities of today’s Indian audience. Launched as part of Believe India’s 20-year global milestone, BL/UR reflects Believe’s commitment to developing new creative ecosystems and empowering artists to define what comes next.
