School of rock

Anushka Manchanda is not losing sleep over whether or not she’ll be reduced to a gorgeous prop in MTV’s Stuntmania Reloaded. “It just sounded like a fun show,” she says. And she did what she does best – follow her heart. “Later,I realised that winning Khatron Ke Khiladi might have led the channel to choose me to co-host the show with Alan Amin,” she adds as an afterthought. While doing television was more of an impulsive decision,not doing it was a difficult and well-deliberated one. “It was television that got me thinking about a career in singing. So,the decision to stay away from it,for nearly three years and concentrate on music,wasn’t easy. But then,I was determined to carve out a niche for myself in playback singing,” says Manchanda.

Her return with Khatron Ke Khiladi,happened only when she was assured of the fact that the show ‘isn’t taking anything away from her commitment to music’. “I had to work hard to earn music directors’ faith in me. When Viva happened,I was clueless about what I was doing. I had no training,no understanding of playback. I learnt everything on the job,” says the singer who made her debut way back in 2002. And the last few years have had a considerable influence on her confidence,on her style of singing,and even on public performances.

“People approach me with a certain kind of song and I am not complaining. It’s good to have a signature style. But that doesn’t mean that I am not open to experimenting. Like in Aisha,By The Way,a funky number with a pop feel,was a song I could sing in my sleep. But,Behke Behke ,a soulful,melodious number was something even I wasn’t sure of pulling off. But Amit (music director Amit Trivedi) had that kind of faith in me,” she smiles,adding she isn’t in a hurry to do a ‘sad song or something like that’.

However,Shkbang,her band is where she let’s herself loose — completely. “It’s very different from average Bollywood. Our sound is very electronic… rock and roll. In playback,you have to sing keeping in mind what the film,director demands. The band is my baby. From the lyrics to the arrangement,I have a say in all of it,” she says. Adding that very soon,they might have an album up for release.