Shreya all set to sing her way into Kiwi hearts
Bollywood singing phenomenon Shreya Ghoshal is as excited about her maiden Auckland performance as is her audience.
“What a fantastic place this is. I’ve seen New Zealand and Auckland in pictures and heard about its legendary beauty but seeing it is absolutely amazing … the people are so friendly, so happy … I’m so excited … ” cooed India’s top playback singer during an exclusive interview with Indian Weekender yesterday.
Asked what her Kiwi Indian fans should expect at her sell-out Indian Weekender presented ‘Jaadu Hai Nashaa Hai’ concert in Manukau tonight, Shreya smiled: “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” The 26-year-old appears to have handled her cult status with rare equanimity and maturity, replying to questions with great finesse, even a hint of diplomacy.
The seven-time Filmfare Award winner considers herself fortunate to have had opportunities to sing for composers like A.R. Rehman, whose musical genius has been acknowledged globally. “Singing for him is an absolute delight and a challenge,” she said. Tamil composer Ilaya Raja is another favourite and she considers some of the Tamil songs she has sung to his tunes among her best ever.
India’s all time singing legend Lata Mangeshkar is her ultimate idol and says Lata has influenced her singing more than any other singer. And quite like her, Shreya has sung in almost every major language of the subcontinent including Bengali , Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, besides Hindi.
Shreya’s career began when she won the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest on the Indian national television circuit. She caught the attention of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali during the competition. In 2000, he offered her the opportunity to be the voice of Paro, the lead female character of his film Devdas, who was portrayed by Aishwarya Rai. Shreya sang five songs under the music direction of Ismail Darbar in the film. This song earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer, as well as Filmfare's RD Burman Award for New Music Talent, given to upcoming talents in music. She also won a National Film Award for the song "Bairi Piya".
Shreya told Indian Weekender she did not have further opportunities to work with the film’s composer Ismail Durbar, whose score helped bring the first rush of fame to her. Since then, she has worked with prominent Indian music directors in more than 140 films, and several of her songs have achieved critical and commercial success. Shreya is one of the most awarded playback singers in recent times.
Born in a Bengali Hindu family in Durgapur, West Bengal in eastern India Shreya grew up in Rawatbhata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan. Her father works in Bhabha Atomic Research Center as a nuclear power plant engineer for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India while her mother is a post-graduate literature student.
From the age of four, Ghoshal accompanied her mother on the harmonium. Her parents enrolled her for formal training in Hindustani classical music in Kota with Maheshchandra Sharma. As a child she won the children's special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma (now Sa Re Ga Ma Pa) contest on Zee TV.
Shreya confirmed to Indian Weekender that the story about how she as a little girl convinced her father’s boss in Kota to have him transferred to Mumbai so she could pursue her musical learning was true. Noted music director Kalyanji who judged the Sa Re Ga Ma competition also persuaded her parents to move to Mumbai. She trained with him for 18 months and continued her classical music training with the late Mukta Bhide in Mumbai. “I haven’t been training since my last teacher Mukta Bhide passed away,” she said.
Shreya enjoys symphony and instrumental in western music and her favourite groups are Dream Theatre, Backstreet Boys and Boyzone. But Indian music, according to her, is her soul.
She told Indian Weekender Indian film music was in a phase that balanced melody and rhythm and was experimenting with new flavours in a bid to seek newness. She said she was looking forward to experimenting with music outside the Bollywood mould.
“Once broadband proliferates throughout India, beyond the big cities, it will throw open avenues to collaborate with different artistes throughout the country and bring opportunities for experimentation … there’s so much hidden talent around the country … it would be great to reach out and make new melodies, experiment and make new genres of music,” she said.
Hopefully we’ll get to see a glimpse of this at tonight’s performance from the only singer to have won four national awards at the age of 26 in the Hindi film industry.
Bollywood singing phenomenon Shreya Ghoshal is as excited about her maiden Auckland performance as is her audience.
“What a fantastic place this is. I’ve seen New Zealand and Auckland in pictures and heard about its legendary beauty but seeing it is absolutely amazing … the people are so...
Bollywood singing phenomenon Shreya Ghoshal is as excited about her maiden Auckland performance as is her audience.
“What a fantastic place this is. I’ve seen New Zealand and Auckland in pictures and heard about its legendary beauty but seeing it is absolutely amazing … the people are so friendly, so happy … I’m so excited … ” cooed India’s top playback singer during an exclusive interview with Indian Weekender yesterday.
Asked what her Kiwi Indian fans should expect at her sell-out Indian Weekender presented ‘Jaadu Hai Nashaa Hai’ concert in Manukau tonight, Shreya smiled: “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” The 26-year-old appears to have handled her cult status with rare equanimity and maturity, replying to questions with great finesse, even a hint of diplomacy.
The seven-time Filmfare Award winner considers herself fortunate to have had opportunities to sing for composers like A.R. Rehman, whose musical genius has been acknowledged globally. “Singing for him is an absolute delight and a challenge,” she said. Tamil composer Ilaya Raja is another favourite and she considers some of the Tamil songs she has sung to his tunes among her best ever.
India’s all time singing legend Lata Mangeshkar is her ultimate idol and says Lata has influenced her singing more than any other singer. And quite like her, Shreya has sung in almost every major language of the subcontinent including Bengali , Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu, besides Hindi.
Shreya’s career began when she won the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest on the Indian national television circuit. She caught the attention of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali during the competition. In 2000, he offered her the opportunity to be the voice of Paro, the lead female character of his film Devdas, who was portrayed by Aishwarya Rai. Shreya sang five songs under the music direction of Ismail Darbar in the film. This song earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer, as well as Filmfare's RD Burman Award for New Music Talent, given to upcoming talents in music. She also won a National Film Award for the song "Bairi Piya".
Shreya told Indian Weekender she did not have further opportunities to work with the film’s composer Ismail Durbar, whose score helped bring the first rush of fame to her. Since then, she has worked with prominent Indian music directors in more than 140 films, and several of her songs have achieved critical and commercial success. Shreya is one of the most awarded playback singers in recent times.
Born in a Bengali Hindu family in Durgapur, West Bengal in eastern India Shreya grew up in Rawatbhata, a small town near Kota, Rajasthan. Her father works in Bhabha Atomic Research Center as a nuclear power plant engineer for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India while her mother is a post-graduate literature student.
From the age of four, Ghoshal accompanied her mother on the harmonium. Her parents enrolled her for formal training in Hindustani classical music in Kota with Maheshchandra Sharma. As a child she won the children's special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma (now Sa Re Ga Ma Pa) contest on Zee TV.
Shreya confirmed to Indian Weekender that the story about how she as a little girl convinced her father’s boss in Kota to have him transferred to Mumbai so she could pursue her musical learning was true. Noted music director Kalyanji who judged the Sa Re Ga Ma competition also persuaded her parents to move to Mumbai. She trained with him for 18 months and continued her classical music training with the late Mukta Bhide in Mumbai. “I haven’t been training since my last teacher Mukta Bhide passed away,” she said.
Shreya enjoys symphony and instrumental in western music and her favourite groups are Dream Theatre, Backstreet Boys and Boyzone. But Indian music, according to her, is her soul.
She told Indian Weekender Indian film music was in a phase that balanced melody and rhythm and was experimenting with new flavours in a bid to seek newness. She said she was looking forward to experimenting with music outside the Bollywood mould.
“Once broadband proliferates throughout India, beyond the big cities, it will throw open avenues to collaborate with different artistes throughout the country and bring opportunities for experimentation … there’s so much hidden talent around the country … it would be great to reach out and make new melodies, experiment and make new genres of music,” she said.
Hopefully we’ll get to see a glimpse of this at tonight’s performance from the only singer to have won four national awards at the age of 26 in the Hindi film industry.
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