In a world of music labels and commercial distribution, Jalgaon boy, Vishal Rathod, has charted his own path. He began as a folk dancer in his village, and later became a music producer/ distributor/ and actor. He recently created nationwide buzz on social media, after his songs, Mad kelay tu and Jejuri yeshil ka went viral, with over 12.6 thousand reels and shorts being re-made on Instagram and YouTube. “I yearned to do something in this world. I was always passionate about dancing, and have been a folk dancer since childhood, but it had its physical and financial limitations. I also belong to a farmer’s family, so I had to start from scratch. My brother and I began releasing album songs on YouTube, and a few years later with Everest Entertainment,” says Rathod when we meet him at the mid-day office.

In 2019, he started a music distribution company, VR Music Station, through which he produces and distributes music every month where all of it has been created by local artistes. “From the beginning, I wanted to create music that can also be caller tunes for a phone. So, we produced songs with that intention,” says Rathod.