With a voice just as sweet as her name, Madhushree has lent her voice to
many memorable compositions in films such as *Moksha, Yuva, Aayitha Ezhuthu,
Kal Ho Naa Ho, Anbe Aaruyire, Kuch Naa Kaho, Guru, Rang De Basanti, Aalwar,
Unnale Unnale, Sivaji, Tehzeeb, Jodhaa Akbar, Mukhbir, Kisna, Swades,
Saathiya* and *Welcome to Sajjanpur*. She recently came out with an
album, *Lagi
Lagan* which does a commendable job of presenting thumri sangeet in fusion
format. I, Amanda Sodhi, present you with an in-depth interview on
PlanetBollywood.com with Madhushree in which she shares how she got her
break in the music industry, her first meeting with A. R. Rahman, her
experience of working on *Lagi Lagan*, and much more. What are you waiting
for? Read away!
*How did you decide to pursue a career in music? *
My family pursued me from my childhood to be a singer, a classical
singer. In fact, my father, Shri Amarendra Nath Bhattacharya was a very good
singer. After completing my college, I applied for a job at ICCR (Indian
Council For Cultural Relations) and I got selected for Surinam/ South
America to teach classical music. I was totally unaware of my future line.
In Surinam I became popular by singing for the first time film music and I
started enjoying it very much. After completing my terms in Surinam, I was
thinking to settle in Holland, but Holland is a very cold country (laughs).
*It is said that you got your entry into Bollywood playback singing through
Kumar Sanu's recommendation. Tell us a bit about this. *
I was still doing my teaching in Surinam, when I landed in Kolkata to record
a ghazal album, where I met Kumar Sanu in the same studio…he was rocking at
that time. He heard my voice, praised me a lot and suggested that I give a
try in Bollywood. He also told me that my voice is very much suitable for
playback. So, I took his advice and without telling anybody I took my
tanpura and a small bag with some cloths and left for Mumbai Nagariya.
*You've lent your voice to a lot of A. R. Rahman's compositions. Tell us
about how you initially got your first song with Rahman. That must have been
a really exciting moment! *
That's true. It was exciting! I was fighting to get a break in Bollywood and
let me tell you it is not easy to get that, because when things are going on
their way, nobody bothers to experiment and take a chance for anybody. But,
there is one man who always in each and every project gives chances to
newcomers: A. R. Rahman! When I heard this, I then made my goal to reach A.
R. And, luckily I was recording a jingle at 4D Studio and I heard that A. R.
is coming to some recording for *Lagaan* in the same studio. So, I waited
for him from noon and finally meri intezar phal laya! I waited for 10 hours
to meet him through Mr. Brij Bhushan and finally got introduced to him. He
made me sing lots of things and I sang for more than a hour a mix of
things…classical...light and filmy, and he called me after 1 year for "Naina
Milayke" in *Saathiya*.
*In addition to Hindi you also sing really well in Telgu and Tamil. Is it
difficult to sing in another language? *
I am a Bengali, so all other languages are unknown to me. Tamil singing for
me was the most difficult and challenging singing. In the beginning I was
fighting against the language, but slowly I started enjoying and loving the
language and more because of my fans all across the world.
*You come from a musical family. Since childhood you have been trained in
classical sangeet. Tell us a little bit about your training. Also, do you
still do riyaaz on a regular basis? *
Yes, everybody in my family sings and as I can remember, I performed at the
age of 5. Initially, I took classical training form my father and after that
he sent me to Shri Amiya Ranjan Bannerjee from whom I learned classical
sangeet for 9 years. After that, I took thumri training from Pandit A. T.
Kanan. All riyazi voices have to practice daily for at least 1 hour to be in
form. So, I do riyaaz daily for some time, but days when I have too many
recordings then I do not do riyaaz.
*While there are a lot of people who have a great voice and want to sing,
not every voice is suited for playback. What do you think is the
differentiating factor between a good voice and a voice appropriate for
playback singing? *
Which voice is suitable for playback which one is not is not an issue these
days. Every kind of voice is used for playback singing. Previously, there
was an image that only Lata, Asha, Rafi Sahib, Mukesh, Kishore type of
voices were suitable. As you see, today there are so many types of voices
doing playback. Yes, there is one thing very important about playback voice:
it should have a screen presence in the voice, which I call "khanak."
*There are so many music reality shows and you also took part in one, Jhoom
India, which you won along with Sachin Tyagi. Tell us your views regarding
reality shows. *
Reality shows are all major adaptations of foreign shows. There are pluses
and minuses of these shows for the artists. The plus point is that they get
a platform to show their talent, from where they get fame and finally shows.
The minus point is that most of them do not have any basic music training
and they get hyped by the channel and the media. After the show nobody takes
care of them the way it happens during the reality shows. So they get a lot
of frustration. After all, it is a corporate money-making business.
*You've sung quite a few memorable songs for various music directors
including Rajesh Roshan, A.R. Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Shantanu Moitra,
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, M M Kreem, Himesh Reshammiya, etc. Have you observed
that all of these music directors have a different approach to music
composition and working with singers? If yes, please tell us a bit about
your observations. *
What matters during a playback singing is: 1- There is a situation which has
to be expressed by a song. 2-You have the music director with his way to
compose that situation with particular lyrics and he at that time keeps in
mind which singer will sing this composition. At moment he has already
incorporated the ability of the singer. And, every composer has a different
approach to a composition. There is one major difference between A. R.
Rahman and all other music directors. A. R. always tries to utilize all the
qualities of the artists. He gives them the opportunity to express their own
capabilities to the compositions, where the others stick to their final
version.
*While I'm sure all of the songs you've sung must be dear to you, is there
any song in particular which is your overall favorite? *
As you mentioned, every song is dear to me. But, "Hum Hain Iss Pal Yahaan"
is the closest to my heart.
*What songs are you listening to these days? *
I am very choosy about my listening choices. Anything good and my favorite
Mohammad Rafi Sahib, who is the complete playback singer.
*You recently came out with Lagi Lagan, your debut album. Tell us how Lagi
Lagan came into being? Is Thumri your favorite genre of classical sangeet,
as the songs in Lagi Lagan are all thumris? *
Romantic genre is my favorite and there is lots of romance in thumri
singing. Robby Badal was after me for a long time for doing a thumri album
and finally he got his chance to do *Lagi Lagan*. It all started when we had
a meeting with Mr. Shridhar of Sony BMG for an album and Robby at the time
let them listen to some romantic tracks, but because of the changing music
market, he wanted some different things to hear and at that point Robby told
them "why not a thumri album?" And, Shridhar was very excited about this
idea, so started the album from there.
*How was it like working with Robby Badal, who has composed the songs in Lagi
Lagan?*
Completely different than any music director, because we are husband and
wife (laughs). We rehearsed each and every track on a click track in our
music room first and after that we went to the studio to sing the song still
on the click track. After that Robby cut and pasted the song, we gave it to
the arranger. In close coordination we tried to finish each and every track
as you hear on the CD. Robby is a very talented composer and I am very lucky
to have worked with him. It was a very different and good experience. I
regularly sing for all kinds of music directors, but with Robby it was very
different. We were both very demanding with the work and we had lots of
differences and that made the album very unique.
*Out of all the songs in Lagi Lagan, which one was the most challenging for
you to sing? *
"Barsan Lagi".
*How important are the lyrics of a song for a singer? Have you ever been
taken aback by song lyrics presented to you? *
Very important for me. I think a good song should start with good lyrics. I
believe that lyrics in a song has the first place, and then the composition,
and then, third, the voice. Yes, if I find something not right with the
lyrics, I oppose.
*Tell us your process for recording a song…for example, do you just walk
into the recording studio and see the lyrics for a song right there and then
and record it? Or, do you like to hear the situation of the song in the film
before singing to convey the right emotions? *
I always ask the music director or the director about the situation of the
song. And not that only because everybody knows my ability as a singer, they
give mostly difficult songs, so I ask them to give the song in advance, so
that I can prepare it better and I can give more in the song than a fresh at
the same time one. I also like to know the name of the actress on whom the
songs will be pictured as I always try to give the character of the person
in my singing.
*What changes would you like to see in the music industry? For example,
there are lots of cases of lifting tunes, ghost composers and ghost
lyricists. *
I would really like to see some good compositions coming up in Bollywood,
especially for female songs. I think that ghost writers and ghost composers
will exist for always. It is your decision what you want to do with your
creation.
*What do you think is the key to being a successful playback singer in India
? For example, we see many wonderful singers suddenly disappearing like
Kavita Krishnamurthy Subramaniam and Anuradha Paudwal*.
Kavitaji and Anuradhaji were both very successful at a time and everybody
gets that opportunity to experience the success. There is no golden rule for
being successful in Bollywood.
*What advice do you have for aspiring singers? What about for aspiring NRI
singers? *
For a singer you need to have a good voice, talent and the convincing power
to reach towards your goal in general. For NRI singers, my advice is don't
focus only on playback singing, but try to make your own identity…make your
album and try to send this to all music directors.
*What are some of your forthcoming projects? *
There are some films with A. R. Rahman, Shantanu Moitra, Jeet Ganguly, a
song which I am very excited about is "Chintuji" where I have an excellent
duet song with Roop Kumar Rathod. There are some very exciting projects I am
working on, but let it be a surprise!
*Are you working on another private album these days? *
Yes I am working a couple of albums. One, is of course with Robby Badal,
again. It will be a very romantic album in today's trend. Also, I am very
open to different ideas on songs from all over the world.
*Is there anything else you would you like to tell our PlanetBollywood.com
readers?*
There are so many things I would like to add, but one thing which is very
sad in the Bollywood industry is that even though songs are highlights in
films the artists of the songs are always neglected. I think it is the job
of the media to give each and every artist the attention, what they have
earned! You are doing a great job through your PlanetBollywood.com by
highlighting artists. All the best to you all. Great job!
http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayArticle.php?id=s112908045634
--
regards,
Vithur
