My life: Sunidhi Chauhan

Having kicked off her Asian tour in hong Kong, one of India's most prolific singers talks to P.Ramakrishnan about her musical heroes. Picture Douglas Pieterse.



SMALL STEPS

I was five years old [when] my dad’s friend said to him, “There’s a show for the local community [in Delhi], let her go up on stage and sing. It’ll be cute. She’s so little - people will love it”. At first my father didn’t agree. Then he said fine and he knelt down on his knees, said to me, right before the show, “Go right there in the middle of the stage, sing your song to the mic, and then come back.” That’s exactly what I did. I didn’t notice the applause, see the audience (the stage lights were too bright). There was no fear. I liked to sing but which child doesn’t? I had no concept of whether I was good or not.

But after that show, people kept going up to my parents to say, “You’ve got something here, she can really sing. You must pay attention to it”. Since then, I’ve been singing on stages, small and big. And I’ve never been in awe of performing. Because my first experience was so casual and matter-of-fact - go to the centre, sing, come back, that’s the approach I took for years after. Other singers moved and danced along. I was painfully shy, finally at one show, I started moving along and dancing a bit to the song, I started enjoying the experience of being on stage, years later.

FANATICAL BEHAVIOUR

The only time I slightly panicked was at Hisar (a small state in North India). There were around 100,000 people there and I was the only singer with my troupe of musicians. They wanted to hear the song “Beedi”, which was a rage that year. I usually save it for the finale, as it leaves an impact, but the people started chanting for that song. It kept getting louder, so I finally told my background musicians, lets change it up and for the fifth song, I started singing the intro to the song. The crowd went wild – they torpedoed towards the stage, broke the barricades. It was manic. Thank God we had cops and security, I was escorted out – the show ended right there. I’ve never seen that kind of frenzy for anything. I don’t know how I feel about it, happy they loved the song or in alarmed at the reaction.


HITS AND MISSES

I can never really tell when a song’s going to be a hit or a flop. When I sang “Dhoom”, it was for a film with a cast that wasn’t that famous (at the time), it became a rage. In India, if the film is a hit, the song becomes a hit, I mostly sing for films so if its well picturised on a lead actress, the chances of it becoming a rage is stronger. But times are changing with music videos focusing on singers, with reality TV appearances, singers are more recognizable, a song can run on its own merit.

I love to sing soft, melodic, romantic numbers, but I keep getting the pop hits that you hear in clubs everywhere. Not that I’m complaining, but I do love to sing every genre of song. I have no favourite music director or co-singer, I genuinely like them all. From [Oscar winner] A.R. Rehman, who’s the most humble, soft-spoken soul I’ve met in the industry, to the newcomer music directors or co-singers. I have no qualms about singing for anybody, with anybody.


LEARNING TO LET GO

Politics in the music industry in Bollywood’s there. There’s no denying it – although I try to block it out. There have been instances, when I’ve sung a song, recorded it for a film… and then months later, I can see/hear that some other singer’s done the version on the album. I don’t know what happens behind the scenes, you hear things, but I’ve learnt to let it go. I feel, it’s their loss.

The tabloids in India are part and parcel of the game. It really doesn’t bother me what they say or write. A major film magazine wrote that I was dying to get married and settle down – none of that was true. They make up entire features and interviews and I’ve never thought of suing them. The headache of long legal processes, who has the time? I’m recording songs for multiple films, have concerts around the world, music-videos to shoot, I’m judging on reality tv shows, where’s the time, money, energy to waste on the rubbish they print?


REAL LIFE

Joining Indian Idol as a judge has been wonderful. I’ve had so much fun and its great to encourage and support the new generation of singers. I don’t see them as competition. There are over a billion Indians, more than 400 films made each year, most of them musicals, there’s room for every singer, I feel anyone can sing and I love to hear that I’ve inspired the newcomers. It means a lot to me. I must confess, I love the bad singers too. That part’s the most fun – the auditions with the tone deaf. The delusional ones make for great television viewing and I’m always sad when the audition process is done. It gets serious very quickly, the funny parts end.

Reality TV shows get a lot of flack, but how can I possibly say anything against it? It launched off my career. There’s a youtube clip of me online when I first won Meri Awaaz Suno [Listen to my Voice], which was one of the original reality show on National Indian television. I was 10 or 11… competing with other singers who were older, trained and I think most were in college or had professional careers. I’m wearing a ribbon in my hair, a brown knee-length skirt. I sang a classic song Tu Chanda [You’re the Moon], which was originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar – who was the head judge at the finale. My idol, my world, when I won the competition, I had to go up and receive the trophy from her, the living legend… and I burst out crying. Winning the competition or the cheque or the contract to sing for a studio didn’t mean as much then as being blessed by Lataji. She’s a goddess. The petite, 70-year-old (at the time) Goddess gave me a warm hug and it meant the world to me. When I see it now, I still get gooseflesh. That moment changed by life.


CELINE, WHITNEY, LATA AND AASHA

There was no formal training, no in-born passion to be a singer, I never thought like that. I liked singing, I would listen to tapes of legendary Indian singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Aasha Bhosle and mimic what they sing. I’d play the audio tape of the film Lekin, again and again, and emulate the Mangeshkar sisters who sang in the album. Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are other singers that inspire me. The control of their voice as they reach high octaves, the passion they exude when they sing is great. I love Jennifer Lopez too, her music videos, her fashion, her dancing. The singing.. well, I love her. Can I leave it at that? [She giggles].


I used to mimic Lata Mangeshkar, Aasha Bhosle, and I can mimic other singers and actresses too. I used to perform it as an act in my shows, until too many people… fans of theirs started getting offended. My intention wasn’t to hurt anyone, make fun of them, but people took it wrong. So I’ve stopped. I’m not here to hurt anyone, just want them to enjoy music, so I used to copy their styles. Now, I have a huge catalogue of my own songs – I have no idea how many? 2000? Maybe more.


Working with Enrique Iglesisas was wonderful. I wanted to collaborate with other singers and when this opportunity came up, I grabbed it. He’s so humble, so enthusiastic about music. The bigger the star, the more humble they’ve been. We recorded the song partly in LA and part in Mumbai – the music video was also shot in LA and some parts in India, this fusion of styles. The original idea was different and how its come out is different, but collaborations evolve and grow. I feel it’s a first step for what’s ahead.

ENCORE ENCORE

Last time I came to Hong Kong [five years ago], I performed with one of my favourite co-singers KK. We had a blast of a time, the audience was amazing. Last night, even more so. The show was brilliant, I loved the fact people got up and danced on the aisles. At first, the audience seemed shy to move, but by the fourth song, they got into it. The requests for encores were wonderful. Awards, money, fame… nothing beats a great audience reaction.



Interview courtesy of Jade Group.



Outtakes from shoot.
All images Copyright Douglas Pieterse.