MANISHA BHAT
1. Best song you’ve sung so far
Kaise Mujhe Tu Milgayi
2. Your favourite recent release
Roota from Teena and Kehe Bhi De from Traffic
3. Favourite comedian in the Indian comedy scene
I love Vir Das and I love Kapil Sharma because he’s ridiculously
funny
I also like Irfan Khan’s sense of comic timing
Just do what makes you
happy, that’s all. I’ve been
saying this for the last 10
years and I still say the
same thing.
4. One instance you can never forget in life
Recording this Tamil song called Omana Penne from
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya and I recorded this
song on my birthday
I read that you joined MCC mainly for its cultural and
you have been a part of quite a few bands there, how
is it different when you’re making music as a band as
opposed to independent music?
Well, being in the band, we were making independent music.
Music is music at the end of the day, there is film music and
independent music but they’re classic occasions being created
by the media but for me, it is all music and that’s exactly
why I want to be a part of everything and I want to do more.
You should not let your heart stagnate or let your mind be
complacent of what you already have and if you can do more
and find pockets of happiness, fill in those pockets of happiness
in your life and if all those steps make you feel happy then you
should continue doing it because happiness is the only thing
that keep your mind away from being attacked by the devil
in you because if you keep your mind idle it is just one spiral
downwards. So, I never let that happen, I like to engage myself
with doing more music and doing new stuff all the time. I’m
working on my EP this year, it’s a Hindi-English EP called
Silence Swaad Anusaar. Swaad Anusaar in Hindi means ‘as
per taste’ and I believe that music starts from silence and with
silence. And when I work with great producers, they always
say, “Silence plays a very important role in music” and it’s like
a very valuable ingredient in a song and that’s why I named
my album Silence Swaad Anusaar, it’s going to be a great
album, it’s not going to be loud in your face but it’s going to be
loud enough for you to enjoy it and soft enough for you to be
moved. That is the whole concept behind the album but it is
going to be active, fun, creative and it’s going to be very, very
independent.
Who has been your greatest influence to make the kind
of music you make?
MJ and AR. MJ has been a great influence because I started
all because of him. When I was five my dad gifted me the
Moonwalker movie and as any kid would go crazy seeing that
movie, I went crazy too seeing the dance moves, the singing
and automatically I took to dancing and then my parents
realized that I have rhythm in my body and that I understand
key and pitch and so, everything took over.
You were first noticed by AR Rahman, how was your
first interaction with him and how was the whole
experience of working with him for the first time?
It still don’t have heavy, valuable interactions with him for me
it has always been just watching him and learning the way he
works and the way he conducts himself as a human being on
the whole, that’s what teaches me and that’s how I’ve learnt
from him. It’s not like he tells you things and he gives you
advice on something, it’s for you to grab and take things from
him. The way he works, works for him really well and if you
can take some good out of it and implement it in your life the
way you can and make it your own, then that’s really good for
you, right? So, that’s all I’ve done, I haven’t sat there and asked
questions and questioned the art form or the craft of making
music, nothing, just observe, keep your mind open, let there be
a lot more passion in your art and you’ll be there.
The
Score Magazine
www.thescoremagazine.com
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