A New Pitch

On a muggy Mumbai evening, we sit down in a noisy suburban sandwich bar. Sarkar would rather chew lozenges than risk a drink. 8216;8216;I really love my voice,8217;8217; says the singer, who believes her voice has the 8216;8216;khanak8217;8217; of Asha Bhosle8212;another plus point with Varma.

The 30-something singer, who moved from Chandigarh to Mumbai four years ago, walked into RGV8217;s office and convinced him to listen to her demo. Music director Nitin Raikwar, who composed for D, believes Sarkar has the right attitude.

8216;8216;Initially, she was nervous about singing words like saala, but I made her feel comfortable by asking her to drop the aap,8217;8217; he says. With her sultry looks and demeanour, she could be mistaken for a starlet. In fact, Sarkar8217;s a student of a popular acting class, but her next film project is vocals for Varma8217;s Darna Zaroori Hai.

Twenty-four-year-old Naresh Iyer, who once aspired to be an accountant, doesn8217;t speak unless he8217;s spoken to. It took a push and a shove from his parents to persuade him to participate in Channel V8217;s talent hunt Super Singer in Mumbai. 8216;8216;I never wanted to get into music professionally yaar,8217;8217; says the commerce graduate. 8216;8216;I quarrelled with my parents because I had to stand in a queue for four hours before my chance to sing for Adnan Sami came up.8217;8217; He8217;s just the kind of person

AR Rahman likes to work with. Hassle-free, soft-spoken and malleable. 8216;8216;There8217;s something about his voice and his humility. Nice boy,8217;8217; says Rahman.

Iyer didn8217;t make it to the final round, but Rahman chose him from the top 25 contestants for a duet. Within three days, Iyer was in Chennai recording for a south Indian blockbuster. Since that auspicious beginning, he8217;s been inducted into the director8217;s troupe and recently recorded two songs for Rahman8217;s next8212;Rang De Basanti. And though Iyer8217;s glad he didn8217;t end up a white collar worker, he isn8217;t going to be knocking on the doors of Mumbai studios any time soon. 8216;8216;I want a break,8217;8217; says the singer, who8217;s just returned from a London tour with Rahman.

Everyone8217;s not as lucky as Iyer. It took Krishna Beura six years as a radio jock in Dubai and another four years in Mumbai before Musafir happened in 2004. 8216;8216;I never really struggled,8217;8217; says the 33-year-old. 8216;8216;I didn8217;t even try to walk into a composer8217;s home or recording studio because I knew they wouldn8217;t entertain me.8217;8217;

Instead he walked into Sanjay Dutt8217;s trailer and asked him to listen to his CD. 8216;8216;I8217;d heard that he was a big fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, so I handed him a demo CD with a recording of Nusrat8217;s Khanjar Hai Teri Aankhen,8217;8217; recalls Beura. 8216;8216;Sanjay sir couldn8217;t believe it was me singing.8217;8217;

His 8216;godfather8217; recommended Beura for everything from Sanjay Gupta8217;s Musafir to the recent Dus, where Beura features on Deedar De with Sunidhi Chauhan. His throaty, full-bodied vocals make you want to turn up the volume. And thanks to a Master8217;s degree in theatre, there8217;s a fair bit of voice modulation too.

8216;8216;Krishna8217;s very good with high alaps and songs with a Sufi feel,8217;8217; says composer Himesh Reshammiya, who worked with Beura in Aashique Banaaya Aapne. His upcoming projects include David Dhawan8217;s Shaadi Number 1, Vikram Bhatt8217;s Deewane Hue Paagal and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara.

The story of 35-year-old Swanand Kirkire is as simple as his debut song. Bavra Mann was captivating because of its charming lyrics and unusual vocals. Kirkire gets credit for both. 8216;8216;I wrote it on a bad day in Mumbai in an auto,8217;8217; says the singer, who also assisted Mishra in Hazaaron. But a long time before that ride, this Indore talent sold vacuum cleaners for a living. 8216;8216;People sometimes set their dogs after me.8217;8217; The angst finally exploded and Kirkire moved to Delhi to pursue theatre at the National School of Drama NSD.

8216;8216;Singing came out of the blue when Sudhir asked me to hum a Bihari folk song for the background score,8217;8217; recalls Kirkire, who also wrote and sang for Parineeta. His big dream, however, like most assistant directors, is to make his own film. 8216;8216;But I8217;m definitely going to keep singing.8217;8217; Kirkire8217;s next project is Vidhu Vinod Chopra8217;s Yagna, which he also scripted.

Despite their disparate beginnings and projects, their paths do occasionally intertwine. Beura, like Kirkire, is a former NSD grad and Sarkar has sent a demo CD to Iyer8217;s mentor AR Rahman. And maybe, one day, all four of them will share playback credits for the same film. But until then, it8217;s separate sound checks.