If the voice of Jhoom India winner Madhushree sounded familiar, you are not mistaken. Because, she is the same singer who has given us hits like Kabhi neem neem (Yuva), Hum hain is pal yaahan (Kisna), Pal pal hain (Swades) and Tum bin bataye (Rang De Basanti). The lady with the golden voice spent some time with Sunday Herald and spoke about her tutelage, music and of course, A R Rahman.

Sachin Tyagi (partner in Jhoom India) and you were rocking and way ahead of competition. But what made you participate in Jhoom India?

There are multiple reasons behind my taking up the challenge in Jhoom India. First is the changing scenario of playback singing in Bollywood. Today it is no longer a behind-the-scenes profession— a lot of importance is given to your ‘face value’. So, participating in a reality show is almost a natural thing for a singer to do.

Then, a number of my fans wanted to see the person behind the voice and Jhoom India gave me a good forum to take care of this request. And last but not the least, this show was completely different from the normal run-of-the-mill reality shows. In Jhoom India, I had to train a celebrity actor to sing. There was a charm and challenge attached to it which I could  not refuse!

I want to dedicate this victory to my husband, Ravi Badal without whom I could not have made it. And I must also mention the contribution of my father Amarendranath Bhattacharjee and my guru Dr Amiya Ranjan Banerjee.

Without them a career in music would not have been possible.

You had a good partner in Sachin Tyagi. His deep voice and emotional singing did make it easier for your team to move ahead.

To be honest, I did have a hunch that we will go a long way in the show. The first time I heard Sachin sing, I knew that if groomed properly, he can be a fabulous singer. That’s what I did. We used to practice a minimum of three hours every day! Kudos to him for his focussed effort and hard work that made all the difference.  I think our victory in Jhoom India once again proves that nothing can replace hardwork and dedication.

I think yours was the only pair that did not fight on the stage or do histrionics to get votes!

(Smiles) That is because we used to fight off-screen! To be honest, we never wanted to grab extra attention by having mock fights on screen.

But we did have a lot of arguments and differences in opinions during selecting our songs. Every time Sachin would come up with a really tough song and I would say ‘no’ to it and we used to land up having an argument. To be honest, we wanted to play the game based on just our singing skills and not any histrionics. And both Sachin and I are very happy that our hard work paid off. In fact, you may call it my luck, but I have always won competitions since childhood. Be it India or abroad, I have always been lucky when it comes to competitions!

So, what are your future plans? Any new albums you are working on?

I am extremely busy with a semi-classical album which is due to be published soon. You will hear me singing all traditional thumris in the album. I am quite happy with the way it is shaping up. My husband is arranging the music for the album.

You seem to be singing only for A R Rahman. Everyone knows that you are one of his favourite singers, but any particular reason for not singing with other music directors?

Though it is true that most of my songs are A R Rahman’s, but it is wrong to say that I have worked only with him. I have sung for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Rajesh Roshan as well. Having said that, there is no denying the fact that Rahman knows my style very well and we share a good rapport.

I know that he will call me only if the song suits my voice. My fans and well wishers always say that Rahman makes certain songs for me. I think that is a big compliment! I think other composers will also approach me when they have a good song for me!

What are the new songs you have recorded in the recent past?

In Jodhaa Akbar, I have sung In Lamhon Mein with Sonu Nigam. I have also recorded for Shantanu Moitra in Shayam Benegal’s Mahadev with KK.