Being a native of Lucknow, your roots naturally
belonged to the legacy of classical music. Didn’t
you initially dream of becoming a classical vocalist,
especially when you underwent a formal training in
the discipline?
Frankly speaking, I have always wanted to be a playback singer
from a very young age. I grew up listening to Lataji’s (doyen
songstress Lata Mangeshkar) golden melodies and even ape
Alka Yagnik’s mellifluous voice tuning into her superhit tracks
of the 90s. So like any other die-hard Bollywood fan, I would be
keenly glued to its mainstream music and the dose was inevitably
injected through my senses. But I owe everything to my classical
base which taught me the ABCD of music as it forms its
fundamental foundation. Fortunately, my serious grooming got
me an early exposure to the ragas, its subtle intricacies, different
techniques and its cardinal characteristic traits.
But being in London for a long time, your ears were
treated to a diverse palette…
Absolutely! How can I deny that it added onto my vocal range
and was a great impetus to my musical education too? See, you
have to continuously imbibe the positive impulses strewn around
you only to be able to harvest their benefits in the right possible
manner and widen your capacity. In my case for instance, I was
being constantly bombarded with the musical genres of all
kinds. Be it Arabic, Spanish, soft ballads, deejay music or
pop rock, I grabbed whatever my hands could lay upon. In
creativity, you can’t be really picky about your preferences.
The more you gather, the richer your trove looks (smiles!).
Tell us something about your learning phase
under the aegis of your respected guru Shri
Ganesh Prasad Mishra of Varanasi.
To be very honest, whatever little success I’ve achieved
from my craft today, it’s all because of my masterji’s
enlightening guidance to me in shastriya sangeet. I took
lessons from him for 12 long years since the age of 11 and
later acquired my Master degree in the department of
Indian classical music from the prestigious Bhatkhande
Music Institute University of Lucknow.
You also had a brief stint at the All India
Radio. How did that happen?
Thanks to my Guruji again that such an opportunity fell
in my kitty so early in life. It was at his behest that I was
sent to audition at Lucknow AIR (All India Radio) as a
child artiste in the classical category. Afterwards, I also
got to perform at Doordarshan on a National Network
channel. Side by side, I did a lot of stage shows to build
up my confidence level. Here, I’d also like to mention
Anup uncle’s name (eminent bhajan maestro Anup
Jalota). He is my dad’s close friend and has mentored
me from onwards my tender teens. You know, I
could earn a plethora of public shows merely on his
recommendations. Hence, am immensely grateful
to his benevolence too. Both their advice actually
paid off to ease the pressure of my stage fright.
They always said that ‘the more you sing over the
mike, the better you emerge as a consolidated
performer’. The words descended as a morale boost for me at that
susceptible age. Had I not known how to comfortably interact
with the live-audience then, I would have remained petrified on
stage forever! (Laughs)
You have collaborated twice with Dr. Zeus, first for
your music video Jugni Ji and second for your peppy
dance number Lovely in Farah Khan’s blockbuster
multi-starrer Happy New Year. How did you meet
him and the two projects fall in place?
You see, am a thorough listener of different types of music, as
I do earnestly feel that in order to be an avid music buff, one
must be an extensive adapter and an effective receiver. I have an
intrinsic knack for drawing in audio-visual signals and stimuli, if
they appeal me and touch my heart. Same applied for the popular
Pakistani television series — Coke Studio — where I had chanced
upon an old Punjabi folk song ‘Jugni Ji’ by the very talented
artiste Alam Lohar. Among many other likeable songs that the
show had churned out, this particular heart-warming number
somehow stuck with me as a lingering note in my system. For the
next six months, I kept it on a loop and heard it on repeat mode
whenever I could. I consumed it so much so that I ultimately
ended up looking for a befitting producer to get it remixed by an
efficient musician. Then Zeus (Baljit Singh Padam a.k.a. Dr. Zeus
is a well-known Punjabi singer and music producer) appeared in
the picture and the jigsaw puzzle instantly fell in place. He is a
gifted music-maker and we reconnected during the recording of
the blockbuster Happy New Year’s playlist.
You seem to share a special bonding with the much
sought-after composer-duo Meet Bros as they belted
out consecutive chartbusters with your voice. Your
comment…
Well, I have known both the brothers Manmeet and Harmeet
Singh since childhood. They are very much musically-inclined
and have done really good for themselves till date. Their songs
are much in demand at the moment and am overly happy for
them. They deserve every bit of the acclaim attained on their path
so far. Our backstory is that the Meet Bros would attend the same
school that my brother went to in Gwalior for six consecutive
years. So by default, we hit it off as kids and got along together
like a house on fire. We jammed along, exchanged musical ideas
in between our study breaks and grew inseparably fond of each
other as thick pals. Even our parents became one another’s close
family friends.
Years later, Ekta Kapoor (a renowned brand name in the
contemporary showbiz industry and a leading Indian TV-film
producer plus, an eagle-eyed talent-spotter) heard my voice in the
‘Jugni Ji’ track and wanted to use it in one of the songs from her
then unreleased erotic-horror movie, Ragini MMS2. I thought I
was over the moon and without batting an eyelid, jumped straight
at the plum offer. Fact is that, I was blissful on two counts. It
was not only my maiden playback assignment but also the first
time I was getting a scope to work with the Meet siblings on a
professional platform. I flew back to India from London and
exactly three days after my landing, I had recorded the song. I sti ll
remember it was in May 2013 and the song caught the airwaves
in 2014. It not only lent me a perfect fillip to find a foothold in
this competitive entertainment arena but also reaped multiple
rewards on my way. I couldn’t have asked for more!
The
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