रैना

'Raina' is Arijit Singh's first independent single following his announcement in January 2026 that he would retire from Bollywood playback singing. Released 27 February 2026 under Shekhar Ravjiani's independent label Garuudaa Musiic, it was composed by Ravjiani and written by Priya Saraiya. The second collaborative release between Ravjiani and Singh under this label (following 'Kasam Se'), 'Raina' draws inspiration from the image of the beloved as the night — vast, mesmerising, quietly powerful. The song's release was among the most culturally significant moments in Hindi music in early 2026.

Shekhar Ravjiani composes 'Raina' with deliberate spaciousness — piano as the harmonic anchor, acoustic guitar adding warmth, minimal strings that swell only where the melody demands. The production choice reflects the thematic ambition: the night is large and unhurried, and the arrangement honours that. Arijit Singh's voice, freed from the functional demands of Bollywood scene-scoring, operates here with a quality of pure expression — each phrase given full breath. Priya Saraiya contributes both the lyric and a vocal presence, completing the trio's creative unity.

Priya Saraiya uses the raina — night — as the central metaphor: the beloved is likened to the night, vast and mesmerising. This is an old and deep metaphor in Indian poetry, particularly in the bhakti tradition where the night is also the time of mystic union. In secular Hindi poetry, raina evokes quiet longing, the hour when the thinking mind stills and feeling fills the space. Saraiya writes within this tradition while keeping the language conversational.

Arijit Singh's retirement announcement in January 2026 sent shockwaves through the industry — he was the dominant male voice in Bollywood for over a decade. 'Raina' was his answer to the question of what comes next: not silence, but music on his own terms. The collaboration with Shekhar Ravjiani — who co-produced some of Singh's earliest Bollywood work through Vishal-Shekhar — has the quality of a homecoming. The single was released on 27 February 2026 under Garuuda Music, the second release on Ravjiani's independent label after the well-received 'Kasam Se.'

Arijit Singh's retirement from Bollywood playback represents a seismic shift in Hindi film music — the industry must now find new voices for the emotional register he owned. But 'Raina' suggests that his legacy continues on his own terms: independent music, personal choice of collaborators, and songs that answer to no film's scene requirements. The release marked a new chapter not only for Singh but for the entire Hindi independent music space, which gained an artist of his calibre as a permanent resident.