‘I found myself through music’

“The movie stars Milind Soman as a king who falls in love with a court singer and her voice. I guess that means he is love with my voice,” says Tikekar. And it’s not just Soman who has fallen in love with her voice,for Tikekar’s rendition of the song makes so marked an impression that it won her an award for Best Playback Singing at the 60th National Film Awards that were announced on Monday.

A well-known classical singer,Tikekar has found equal success in playback singing for Marathi and Hindi films,and is remembered by her songs in Sardari Begum and Antarnaad. Earlier,her vocals in Antarnaad had also won her a National Award. “I feel extremely lucky and grateful for the award. There are so many great singers out there,that to be chosen for the National Award even once is great,and for me to have received it twice,I am very happy,” she says.

Crediting music for helping her find herself,Tikekar says,“When I was all of eight,I would close my eyes,sing a song and connect to myself.” Her 40-year-long musical career is also littered with state and national awards for classical music such as the Pandit Kumar Gandharva Sanman and the Pandit Jasraj award.

She remembers her recordings with fondness. “The kind of songs I sing for movies are actually very different from the regular pop music that movies use generally. In both Antarnaad and Samhita,my characters are singers,so I have the freedom to use classical music. In fact,because of the kind of songs I sing and the amount of improvisation they have,it’s harder for actors to act and lip sync to my voice and all the alaaps,” she explains.

Tikekar confesses that her best life experiences have actually been simply singing,being immersed in music and meeting music stalwarts such as Kishori Amonkar,Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pandit Jasraj. She spent several years studying music under Amonkar’s tutelage and recalls those days with fondness.

“When you went to a Kishori Amonkar concert,you weren’t yourself; you were the song.

That’s because she became the song. That is what she taught me — to be the song,to be the music and most importantly,to be the moment and really live it,even outside music,” she says.