On a song

With the track getting rave reviews,Rao confesses she is living her dream. However,rewind to the recording room,and one discovers a very jittery Rao. “When I came to know that I would be recording with Ilaiyaraaja Sir I was suddenly so nervous,” she says. The musical maestro made it easy for her. “He was so calm and patient all the time. He made everyone at the studio laugh with his jokes about the Tamil film industry,” she gushes. Despite his jovial nature,Rao describes Ilaiyaraaja as a perfectionist who knows exactly what he wants. “Recording Mudi mudi has to be one of the high points of my career because not everyone is lucky enough to work with a maestro of Raaja Sir’s stature.”

The 25-year-old is happy to be back in Mumbai,her adopted hometown for the last five years,after a concert in Simla. As we relax at Mocha in Andheri,she recounts her dream journey from Jamshedpur to the world of music. “Mumbai is a great place to live in. I love the fact that I can be out so late at night and still know that it’s going to be safe,” reveals the singer,perched on a swing. She first landed in the city in 2004 to study Statistics at St Xavier’s College. Soon she made the decision to stay in Mumbai and pursue a career in music.

Luck favoured her,so did singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan,in finding her foothold in the industry. “Mahadevan was my angel. He advised about how I should begin looking for work. He gave me lots of contacts and suggested that I start with jingles. He told me to be patient and not to expect overnight success,” she says. Over a cup of cappuccino,she rattles off the jingles she sang.

The big break came with Saiyaan Re in Salaam-e-Ishq which was picturised on Priyanka Chopra. “I’m lucky to start my playback career with such a big film,” she says. She went on to sing for movies like Anwar,Bachna Ae Haseeno,Gulaal and Dev.D. Bachna brought Rao her first award at this year’s Screen awards for Khuda Jaane.

Rao became a household name last year with Ek Lao,a beautiful piece from the film Aamir which talks about the loss of innocent lives. This became an anthem during the 26/11 tragedy as NDTV made it their theme song during the terror coverage. “Music can always bring people together. I hope that my song spread the message of hope,” she says.

Next on her agenda is to form a band.

“I performed last month at the Kala Ghoda Festival with a band that was assigned by the organisers. The audience and I had a great time. That’s when I realised that I would love to be part of a band and perform more often,” she discloses excitedly.

CROONING GLORY
Hariharan
Geeta Dutt
Sting
Michael Bublé
Shankar Mahadevan