Asian chorus

At the age of seven,she started taking Bollywood dance classes and was soon learning hip-hop,salsa and western classical ballet as well. In high school,she had a part-time job as an acting teacher. “In 2002,I watched the Hollywood film A Walk To Remember,in which singer Mandy Moore performs Only Hope. Listening to her inspired me to focus on singing full time,” she recalls. She started shooting clips of herself dancing and singing Bollywood songs,and posted them on YouTube. Sometime last year,these clips caught the attention of Project Lotus organisers. “I received a private message on my Facebook account,but ignored it. I received another message and this time I took it seriously. I found out about Project Lotus and decided to audition,” says Budhrani.

During the six-week audition in Hong Kong,she was pitted against 27 other contestants,including seven singers from India. “The Indian competitors were not easy. I felt constant pressure to perform as I was the only NRI in the group and I had to prove myself,” she says. At present,she is basking in the joy of having made it to the band. “Although the band was finalised four months ago,it still seems a half-dream,half-reality to me,” she says.

Having passed out from school last year,Budhrani has taken a year off to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer. As one of the Blush girls,she was plunged into a 10 hour routine of early morning workouts,vocal training,lunch and dance class. “We have also started daily recordings with producers and styling meetings among others,” she explains.

Blush,wary of going the Viva way,is focusing on pop-fusion and singles at present. Coming from different backgrounds,the group also wants to create music in their native language. They are currently developing their first single,Undivided,in which Budhrani sings the Hindi portion. American rapper Snoop Dog is collaborating in the track,that releases in April. “I am also experimenting with the sitar and tabla in my compositions,” says Budhrani,who is the youngest in the band.

Watch Budhrani perform,and you might see traces of Priyanka Chopra and Beyonce. “I admit wanting to be like Beyonce and Priyanka. I like their styles and would like to use that to scrape out my own image,” she says.