I can do item songs too: Shreya Ghoshal - Page 4

Which are your favourites from among these new hits?
Each one of them is special in different ways. Hum to aise hai bhaiyya has so much by way of character. Kacchi kaliyan is actually like folk-rock. Shantanu's very talented and he loves acoustics and has come up with a great album in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Saawariya is of course an album from my mentor, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I just love my songs in the film, including Sanjayji's own composition 'Thode badmash ho tum'. Monty is a man of strings yet has put them to minimalistic use, and the score is artistic and sensitive and not completely commercial. It's a vocally-important album wherein any instrument can be replaced, unlike most songs of today where the orchestration is so heavy that any voice can be brought in! Hum music se door jaa rahe the and this album shows how we need to stop and listen to genuine music.
Om Shanti Om's Dhoom tana was fascinating because it was a full-on film song grandly orchestrated by Pyarelalji. The typical flavour of the '70s with the bigness of the sound was an enthralling experience as I have heard so many stories of those days of live recordings. I once again saw the entire floor of Yash Raj Studios' recording rooms full of  'live' musicians.

Yet the biggest encomiums have probably come for your two songs with Pritam.
Pritamji has really given me songs that I treasure for making the artiste within me evolve. It' s sad that Mere dholna from Bhool Bhulaiyaa has not yet been promoted but it' s classical tenor took me straight to the days of songs like Piya banwari. Pritamji' s composition was wonderful. For me the song was not difficult but very gratifying and rewarding as it was a long time since I had sung sargam in a film song. When he called me for the recording I had no idea that it would be anything like this.
As for Yeh ishq haaye from Jab We Met, when I sang it I did not realise that it would become so popular. Every line is a hook-line and people are so amazed at my different tonal quality that I have used it as my ring-tone just so that people know it' s me who' s sung it! It' s one of those rare songs that touch the heart, are soft and yet have mass appeal. I must admit that I took a lot of liberties from his brief, and though he liked what I did, he said he would get back to me after the film' s team heard it. Later he told me that everyone thought it was superb!

We heard that you had recorded even before your Hindi debut in Devdas. Is that true?
Yes, I had recorded Dnyaneshwari Abhang when I was 13. I had also recorded some Bengali songs. Sanjayji did not just call me after watching Sa Re Ga Ma Pa- he actually went to the trouble of searching for them, collecting them and doing research on my recorded voice before he called me. He wanted a complete, mature voice, he told me later.

Every artiste has idols and singers who are either inspirations or role-models. How does it feel when someone you have admired loses ground with your own success?
I do not evaluate myself in comparison to anyone else and I think that I am very individualistic. Singing is not a job but something I enjoy. Change is something that I will have to face too at some point.

But how ambitious are you?
Singing better is my only goal in life. I don' t set special goals. I think that I achieved an equilibrium between my personal and professional work. I am allowed to take or at least suggest liberties while singing.
On the personal front, at 23 I am very mature and focussed. Two years back, I did not feel very connected to my college friends because of my profession, but now I am comfortable. Yes, I have missed out on the fun of hanging out, but I intend to make up now - I deserve it! (Laughs)

In your five years itself music has gone for a complete shift.
That' s exactly what I said in the context of Saawariya.Gone are the days when a family of four would sit together to listen to songs from a music system. The doud-bhaag is too much today. No one looks for attachment to songs or to artistes. Styles are changing too fast, and people look forever for new voices, textures and grains. We have to work harder to survive.

Is there a good side?
Of course there is. It' s fun for us singers. We are getting a great scope for different singing thanks to all the diverse music. Any change needs time to settle into an equilibrium. We are learning new things and exploring our talents and pushing the creative envelope at work. Today' s music director tends to give you the gist of a song and stimulates your soch and inputs. I am getting a great mix of club, masala and a thumri as well in a film like Shantanu' s Khoya Khoya Chand.

Finally, how does it feel winning a National award for Paheli?
It' s a great feeling. All the songs of Paheli were superbly composed by M.M.Kreemsaab, and Dheere jalna, for which I won the award, was especially lovely.