All of 18,Bhavya has her eyes set on Bollywood

Performing first time at the Shimla International Summer Festival on Saturday,Bhavya took the audience by storm and held the stage till midnight.

“My dream has come true,” she declared from the stage,recollecting her childhood memories of being in the audience in the same festival. “Here,I watched the performances of my favourite signers Udit Narain,Shaan,Hema Sardesai,Sundhi Chauhan,Shreya Ghoshal,Pankaj Udhas and Jagjit Singh. I used to stand in queues for their autographs,” she recalled.

After Indian Idol,Bhavya has done over 150 shows,both in India and abroad. “This has given me a lot of confidence to pursue my singing career,besides studies,in Mumbai where my parents work,” she said.

Originally from Punjab’s Jalandhar,Bhavya was born at Hisar in Haryana and had started singing at the age of four. She claims that her talent was first recognised by Ustad Bismillah Khan. “He told my parents to take me to a place where I can be groomed. Following his advice,my parents shifted first to Pune and then to Mumbai,” she said.

Bhavya learnt classical music from Pandit Prabhakar Karekar. At the age of 14,she won the National Balshree Award,which was conferred on her by the then President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At the Indian Idol,she was a favourite of the judges. During the elimination round,music director and one of the judges Anu Malik had refused to agree with the audience voting and said: “This is not your defeat Bhavya,but a win. I will give you work (break).” “Within a few months,I got a call from Javed Akhtar,another judge at the show,to record a song,” said Bhavya.

The very confident Bhavya has a firm head on her shoulders. “I enjoy drawing attention of the people,but that does not affect my personality. I have a long way to go and secure a place in Bollywood. My assets are my voice and hardwork,” she summed up.

Bhavya Pandit performs at the International Shimla Summer Festival. Lalit Kumar