The chemistry between Roopkumar and Sunali Rathod is hard to miss, crackling even after nearly two decades of married life. When they got together, they took on a world that doubted their love. Two decades later, they reflect on their own personal journeys that are as remarkable as the couple’s love story.

Text: Reshma Jain and Rachna Shetty
Photographs: Achal Sarawal

Roopkumar Rathod’s first song in Bollywood had a slimmer Sanjay Dutt booted in a leather jacket and a cowboy hat, crooning to woo Sridevi while trying to dance spasmodically with his shoulders. The song, “Main tera aashiq hoon”, from the movie Gumraah. From singing that to belting out a pure rock version of the Hanuman Chalisa in the recently released London Dreams, it would be an understatement to say that Roopkumar Rathod has come a long way. The journey itself has been one of significant trials and discoveries, for him and his wife Sunali.

The duo barely seems worn out by it, though. The last few years have been a time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of a success reaped through years of hard work. Even as Roopkumar sheds the image of a soft singer, Sunali is working on charting new territories in her personal music.

As he reflects on his career in the glowing aftermath of London Dreams, Roopkumar still presents the image of a student in the field. “Before every song, I listen to the music director’s previous works, I look at the director’s films and see how songs are picturised and what characteristics I can include. Then I rehearse the song.” He did much the same thing when called upon to sing in Veer Zaara. The music was composed using tracks of one of India’s legends, Madan Mohan and Roopkumar fills us in on the history of the song. “Tere Liye was originally supposed to be a composition for the film Mausam. But things didn’t work out then.” He recalls getting gooseflesh when listening to the composer sing his tunes. “After I heard it, I knew I couldn’t get let this song down.”

In the case of London Dreams, the music composers, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy sprung a surprise when they asked him to sing Barso Yaaron. “I was recording another song for the same movie, and after that finished, Shankar handed me a paper with the lyrics and said ‘You have to sing this song’. I asked him, ‘Now?’. And he said yes. He had recorded it previously in his voice and it sounded great. I wondered whether I could pull it off, but I fell instantly in love with the energy of the song and then, of course, Hanumanji helped me with it.”