Straight from the heart

After Titli, I was working with Vishal and Shekhar sir on a song for a Telugu serial, which was called Butterfly and came down to Mumbai in October to record it. Around that time, Shekhar sir asked me if I would be interested in recording a track called Zehnaseeb. I said yes and it was all very impromptu, there was no planning involved at all. In fact, I didn’t even know if it was for a film or who it is going to be picturised on. It was all very casual and we finished recording the song in almost an hour.

Were you nervous about the fact that you will be singing a duet with one of your mentors?

Honestly, I didn’t even know who is going to the sing this track with me. Someone else had sung the first scratch and Shekhar sir had informed me that he doesn’t even know if the song will be used in his upcoming project or not. It was only much later, in mid – December, that he told me about Hasee Toh Phasee and how the track will be used in the film. He then broke the news about him singing a duet with me and god, my joy knew no bounds. It is an honour for me to sing a song with my mentor. I am glad that the song is getting such a good response and the feeling is yet to sink in, because everything happened to quickly.

Which among both, Titli and Zehnaseeb is more special to you?

It is extremely difficult for me to choose one, because both are romantic melodies and are close to my heart for specific reasons. They are beautiful compositions, but right now Zehnaseeb has to be my favourite, especially because of its soulful lyrics and melodious rhythm.

Was singing always on the cards for you?

Singing has been an integral part of my family, as my grandfather (Carnatic musician Dr Sripada Pinakapani) has been a Padma Bhushan awardee and my mother (T. Padmhasini) is a trained musician. I started learning Carnatic music from her at the age of three and after completing school, I got my first break as a playback singer with A.R. Rahman in Mani Ratnam’s Kannathil Muthamittal and I was still a teenager. After that I never looked back and went on to do several other projects in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and then recorded my first Hindi ensemble song called Holi re in Mangal Panday. I got recognised for my work in Guru as Tere bina became extremely popular, but very people know that I have sung major lyrical portions of the song Maiyya as well. Many people have asked me why I haven’t sung many songs and to that I can only say that I am not very comfortable with the concept of a PR. I am an introvert and I believe in giving my 100 per cent to the work that I am doing.

Is there any music composer that you are looking forward to working with?

I feel blessed that I got an opportunity to work with the likes of A.R Rahman, Vishal – Shekhar among others. But I am definitely looking forward to working with many other composers like Pritam, Sachin-Jigar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy among others.

Not many know that you are also a popular voice over and dubbing artist. Tell us about that.

Yes, I have done quite a few projects as a voice-over and dubbing artist, the real reason is because quite a few female actors in the Tamil, Telugu and other industries are not very fluent with the language as they come from different states. I have given my voice to Bhumika Chawla, Kangana Ranaut, Kajal Aggarwal and more recently, even Priyanka Chopra in the Zanjeer remake – Thoofan (Telugu). Honestly, I am trying to focus more on music, because there are several artists for whom dubbing is the sole occupation and I don’t want them to suffer. So, I am balancing both my careers in a responsible and organised way.

What about your future projects?

I have two-three Hindi songs coming up in the latter half of this year, while the regional projects will go on as usual. I am looking forward to singing in some more regional languages, especially Marathi. That way, I can learn a lot more and widen my horizons as an artist.