"I always feel that I was probably a better composer than a singer," said the actor, who made his Bollywood acting debut in 2012 with Shoojit Sircar's "Vicky Donor".
"Even during 'Pani da rang', when I played the song to Shoojit da (director Shoojit Sircar), I thought that I'd make a purist singer sing it... Sonu ji (Nigam),
Sukhwinder ji (Singh) or Rahat ji (Fateh Ali Khan). But an organic voice is perhaps what Shoojit da liked. That's why he launched me as a singer-actor in my first film," he added.
Does he intend to sing all songs in his films?
"That never happens. I'm not that selfish," said the "Dum Laga ke Haisha" actor.
"For 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha', the director had asked me to sing, but I said, 'No, I am Kumar Sanu's fan in the film, how can I sing?'. My character wouldn't have sounded good in his own voice. I think that the actor should be different from the singer and that was a deliberate effort," he explained about not singing in the hit film.
About his inspiration, he shared that there were several influences including Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar.
"I used to listen to a lot of Punjabi songs, Gurdas Mann sahab, a legend of Punjab, we listen to him a lot. These influences do rub off on you," said the actor, who is out with another song "Yahin hoon Main".
"The best part about this era is that we're getting a lot of textured singers so, it's very important to have your own identity, your voice. Though I'm not a trained singer, I am proud about the fact that I have my own voice," he added.