Singer Tulsi Kumar, who debuted with a duet with Himesh Reshammiya in Chup Chup Ke in 2006, has come a long way. She has sung a song to make you groove, drool, woo, fall in love, and at times, cry. A song for every mood, every occasion. And that versatility comes effortlessly to a girl born to the uncrowned king of the music world, the late co-founder of the music label T-Series, Gulshan Kumar.
“My father enrolled me in Suresh Wadkar’s music school when I was barely seven. He loved my voice and was keen that I take up singing as a career. Since then, I have been learning music, pursuing his dream relentlessly, and trying to better my voice with every rendition,” says Tulsi. A learner at heart and by habit, she never stopped taking music lessons. “I still do a lot of riyaaz and ardently follow my guru’s advice,” she adds.
Practice has made her perfect to sing a soft, sensuous, melodious number or a peppy track with ease. “With every song I am trying to expand my musical range,” she says. In her recently-released single, Mera Highway Star, featuring sister designer-turned-actor Khushali Kumar and rapper Raftaar, Tulsi backed her singing by doubling up as a garage girl in the video, and did some dancing. “I can at best be myself, a singer, in front of the camera, but can’t be someone else,” she says about her acting skills.
The theme of the video being #bewhoyouare is for girl power and has oodles of attitude and loads of oomph. “My sister Khushali and I play garage girls and do a man’s job. Through this rendition we want to tell the world that a girl should be who she wants to be. It is all about breaking free, just being and remembering that there is nothing that you can’t do,” says the 31-year-old.
The video grabbed more than eight lakh views since it released earlier this month. It was the third single in which Tulsi collaborated with Khushali; they had earlier doled out hit singles such as Mainu Ishq Da Lagya Rog and Mere Papa earlier. “While Mainu Ishq Da Lagya Rog was recreated from Mahesh Bhatt’s Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Mere Papa was an emotional song for us. It was a tribute to our father and his memories,” says Tulsi.
More recently, she crooned Gulaabi 2.0 in the Sonakshi Sinha starrer Noor. “I had loads of fun recording Gulabi 2.0. It is a mix of rap and hip-hop, and required a carefree, bindaas attitude, and I tried to do justice to the spirit of the song,” she says.
Tulsi and her husband Hitesh Rahlan have started T-Series Stageworks Academy of Film Music and Performing Arts in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, to train budding singers, dancers, models and actors. “I am trying to fulfil my father’s responsibility. He was known for honing young talent and launching superstars of tomorrow.” The academy’s course directors include Shaan and Sonu Nigam (singing), Ahmed Khan (dancing), Dino Morea (modelling) and Sharman Joshi (acting).
The Akshay Kumar starrer Mogul is a biopic on Gulshan Kumar’s rags-to-riches story and meteoric rise in the music world. She has just finished recording a peppy song ‘Goggles’ for Anil Kapoor-Arjun Kapoor starrer Mubaraka.