The first time you hear her, she sounds as soulful and melodious as Kavitha Krishnamurthy. Already a name to reckon with in the Southern music circuits, she is presently making way into the playlist of most Bollywood music lovers, particularly after her song ‘Titli’ from Chennai Express topped the charts. And her latest ‘Zehnasseb’ from Hasee Toh Phasee touches the heart and makes one listen to the song over and over again.
‘Zehnaseeb’ Experience
If ‘Zehnaseeb’ has been liked so much, then its all thanks to Shekhar sir and Vishal sir. After singing Titli, Shekhar sir collaborated with me on a Telugu single (also called Butterfly) and I had come to Mumbai to record that song and work with him on the language and pronunciations. At that time, he got me to record ‘Zehnaseeb’, however, I later knew that the song may not be retained. The song finally finding space in the film was a stroke of luck and I felt even more fortunate that my voice was retained. Shekhar sir is like a mentor to me now.
Any particular favourite
Titli will always be special because it was an opportunity out of the blue and I have Titli to thank for all songs the that have come after that.
Beginning to sing
I was trained to become a classical musician from the time I was very young, at about 4. Singing has been an integral part of my family, as my grandfather (Carnatic musician Dr Sripada Pinakapani) has been a Padma Bhushan awardee and my mother (T Padmhasini) is a trained musician. I started learning Carnatic music from her at the age of four. After a rigorous initial training, she asked me to make a choice. I did... and here I am. After completing school, I got my first break as a playback singer with AR Rahman in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’. After that I went on to do several other projects in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and then recorded my first Hindi ensemble song called ‘Holi Re’ in Mangal Panday. I got recognised for my work in Guru as ‘Tere Bina’ became extremely popular, but very few people know that I have sung major lyrical portions of the song ‘Maiyya’ as well.
Initial Struggle
Of course I had my share of struggle. Each person has a struggle in their own way. AR Rahman gave me a break when I was 15. And things weren’t easy even after that, but it has been an interesting journey. It is better to count the blessings than harp on the struggles.
Best Compliment
The best compliment that I have received so far is that my voice sounds like love. And Shahrukh Khan happened to tweet that right after they released the song ‘Titli’.
Aspiration
I feel blessed that I got an opportunity to work with the likes of AR Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar among others. But I am definitely looking forward to working with many other composers such as Amit Trivedi, Pritam, Salim Sulaiman, Sachin Jigar and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, among others.
Current projects
‘Kochadaiiyaan’, a composition for Rahman sir and several others in Telugu, Tamil and a couple in Hindi. I am not too comfortable stating the projects until they release.