http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20080211015028&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
TWENTY-five-year-old Naresh was just another free-spirited youngster who enjoyed music, did a bit of singing for himself and longed for a career in chartered accountancy. Although he had won a few inter- collegiate music competitions, Naresh believed it was nothing more than good luck. But when the winning became consistent he wondered whether he actually had a flair for music. In 2005, Naresh found himself amongst the last 25 contestants of Channel V's music talent hunt show V Supersinger. The show turned out a dream run for the young man who met musicians of the likes of A R Rahman and Adnan on the sets. But the honeymoon was not to last long and Naresh was soon out of the show. Not empty-handed, though, he had a singing offer from Rahman, which again he thought was too good to be true. But in a few months *Roobaroo* happened and life changed forever for Naresh Iyer. Three years later, Naresh is a national award-winning playback singer. This website's newspaper caught up with the velvet-voiced pick of Rahman who rendered many of his recent cult hits, including *Roobaroo, Patshala* and *Munbe Va.* "I never thought that Rahman sir was serious when he made the offer that day. I thought he was only trying to console me as I was out of the show. But within four days, his engineer called me and I was flabbergasted," says the 27-year-old singer with his trade-mark smile intact on his boyish face. Ever since that classy *Rang De Basanti* number hit the charts there has been no looking back for this youngster from Mumbai. The song won him the National Award for best play back singer for 2006. Today, Naresh juggles his time between stage shows and recordings. Something he never dreamt of three years ago. "I was just a guy who dreamt of becoming a CA and was happy with my studies. Although I was training in music under Susheela Mani and Chintamani Gore, I was not really serious about a career in music," Naresh swears. Interestingly, it was his parents who coerced this studious boy into music. Naresh's mother actually wanted him to participate in Indian Idol. "I was kind of bored with reality shows and wanted to pursue studies rather than music. But when V Supersinger happened, my family almost pushed me out of the house to participate in it," he says. Little did he know then that he was about to be hand-picked by Rahman for an enviable musical career. Rahman not only gave Naresh his first playback song (*Mayilerege* for *Anbe Aaruyire*) and his first Bollywood break (*Roobaroo*) but also made him part of his team for world tours. Naresh has by now shared many stages with the legendary composer. "It is tough when you are sharing the stage with artists' of this stature because the expectations are always very high. Being part of that team itself is a challenge," says Naresh. However, unlike stage shows recording with AR is an entirely different experience, he says. "He is a treasure house of knowledge, and you always come out having learnt something after each session. He always keeps his sessions relaxed and when you are done with a song you feel like starting it all over again." Naresh has also worked with other leading Tamil composers, including Harris Jayaraj and Deva. He is now looking forward to singing for Ilayaraja and Vidyasagar. Naresh, who is a native of Palakkad, has only sung one Malayalam song for the film *Heart Beats*. He is now looking forward to his next Hindi project with Anu Malik, which is set to begin soon. "I still feel like I am living a dream. I just don't want it to end." That's very unlikely, going by his run in tinsel town so far. Nevertheless, touch wood ! -- regards, Vithur A.R.RAHMAN - MY BREATH & LIFE FORCE
