By Mannu Shahi

Sajjan Raj Vaidya is a US-based Nepali singer, songwriter, guitar player, composer and producer who has been publishing inventive Nepali folk influenced modern pop music since the past six years. With a staggering 36 million views in his most famous tune ‘Chitthi Bhitra’, the singer has 581,000 subscribers following the content releases on his official YouTube Channel.
His latest work being, ‘Parkhaai’ a chilled, almost lo-fi-‘ish’ textured, ballad with a dazzling video written, shot and directed by Nurbu Lama. As like all his other songs this single was also composed, performed and produced by the singer himself with an addition of Sumit Maharjan on flute and Tsewang Rinzin and Saumya Karki on cinematography and editing duties respectively for the video. Initiating his career with the debut ‘Aaja Matra’, a laid-back love anthem which Vaidya states was the first Nepali song he ever penned, featuring an elegant video of the singer gelling into the tune.
His big break followed after his second single ‘Hawaijahaj’ was published, the video was made in collaboration with Fuzz Factory Productions, who are one of the most desired contemporary multimedia firms in Nepali music fraternity.
The storyline of the video and the song made a deep impact on many listeners and Vaidya’s soothing romantic vocal timbre presented just with his acoustic guitars in a sugar-coated glossy mix added up as a perfect ingredient for the package Nepali music audience were craving for. And voila! Hawaijahaj marked 19 million views on Youtube. And there was no turning back for the singer thereafter as his songs started getting more personal, people started resonating with him on a much deeper level and everything he did or said became validating and worthy for his followers.
Thus, his following entry Chitthi Bhitra was appreciated even more, as just with the release of the official audio the song is till date his most viewed content ever, which hardly happens to Nepali artists, as most creators lure in followers thorough effective eye-attracting, high budget videos and maybe this is the most fascinating fact about Vaidya as his storytelling is more for the ears, for the pleasure of listening and just maybe this once the Nepali audience have also found their soul soothing musical figure rather than a stunning elitist personality. Similar was the case for his sixth single ‘Mooskaan’, which again was published with only a lyrical video and the song too has an astonishing 22 million views on his social media handles.
This was followed by yet another sensational entry ‘Hataarindai, Bataasindai’, the video for which features a romantic relationship between an ordinary couple and a queer couple, stating both the couples have the same right to co-exist and be accepted in the world. Being the first ever Nepali music video to openly portray a queer relationship, the video got Vaidya even further support and appreciation from a wide array of listeners, marking 25 million views.
His another milestone, ‘Phutki Jaaney Jovan’ with 12 million views portrays simple yet warm videos shot on phone, sent by his fans from all over the world, his ethereal voice, brilliantly crafted words and the soothing musical arrangement making this a rather personal tune for many.
And his recent releases like Lukaamaari, Ultaa Paailaa and now Parkahaai are also scaling their way up towards the utterly desired and vigorously appreciated category of quality Nepali Pop music. So with no further hesitation follow the artist on your socials and support by sharing and subscribing.