Sur ki bela

And that's what Bela Shinde is entitled to. A highly gifted teenager, this 18 year old comes from a musical family. Her grandmother, Mrs K...

And that8217;s what Bela Shinde is entitled to. A highly gifted teenager, this 18 year old comes from a musical family. Her grandmother, Mrs Kusum Shinde, was a well known classical singer while her father, Dr Sanjeev Shinde, is one of the most respected classical music gurus in Pune.

As if that8217;s not enough, even her sister, Sawani Shinde, is one of the promising youngsters on the classical vocal music circuit. With so much classical talent around her, one wonders why she went in for pop-music. The answer according to Bela is very simple. She says,8220;The texture of my voice is more suited for light music than for classical.8221;

But her opting for light8217; music was not due to any lack of training. She has received extensive training in classical as well as semi-classical music from her grandmother and her father since the tender age of eight. She has also trained under gurus like Yadavraj Phad and Ravi Date. 8220;It8217;s just that I prefer light music,8221; says Bela.

She is no stranger to performing since she8217;s been at it since the age of 12. She has performed in programmes like Bela Ke Phool

and Gandha Mogaryacha, regaling audiences with golden film melodies and ghazals. But she came into the lime-light after she started taking part in Sa Re Ga Ma, first in the Children8217;s Special episode at the age of 13 and again when she was 15.

She walked away with the winner8217;s trophy, as an adult8217; performer and finally she won the mega-finals the very next year. And now she8217;s come out with her first album, Kaisa Yeh Jadoo.

8220;Playback singing is my main aim, and I have already got quite a few offers but I can8217;t work on them until my contract with Magnasound ends,8221; explains Bela, for not being involved with anything else. She has, however, recorded a song for Zee Music8217;s Sapnay.

Story continues below this ad

This beautiful Capriconian incidentally shares a couple of things with her idol, Lata Mangeshkar. Apart from being a Maharashtrian, the age at which Bela hit big-time with Sa Re Ga Ma was the same age at which Lata recorded her first playback song 8211; age 13. The second similarity is that both the names , Bela and Lata, are names of a particular creeper which is laden with lovely flowers.

Will Bela repeat the phenomenal success of her namesake? Only time will tell. And we too, shall keep our fingers crossed along with her!