Ananya Bhat: Singers must learn to be comfortable with their voice

Ananya Bhat offers the much-needed soothing touch to an otherwise high-energy number ‘Dheera Dheera’ from ‘KGF: Chapter 1’. In the film’s hit sequel, she recreates its magic in ‘Sulthana’. But as a surprise, it’s her heart-melting rendering ‘Mehabooba’ from the Yash-starrer that’s become a sleeper hit across five languages.

The youngster, who broke through with the folk-based ‘Sojugada’, is hopeful of making big as a multi-lingual singer. She spoke to Showtime about her journey so far. Excerpts:

What were your discussions with music director Ravi Basrur while creating ‘Mehabooba’?

Ravi Basrur sir knew my voice very well as we have worked together earlier as well. So it was easier for him to put a frame and prepare a track. We took time during the preparation. We stayed in Basrur for three-four days and worked on different languages. In the final recording, I took only about two and a half hours to record songs for all five languages. As I had been singing it since last year, I was familiar with the tune. It was actually a quick recording.

Looking back, is it fair to say ‘Sojugada’ is the turning point of your career?

Yes. It was a stepping stone. I started my band ABC (Ananya Bhat Concerts) and songs like ‘Nimbiya’ and ‘Yelli kaane’ went viral. The band focuses mostly on folk songs or my numbers. We had a touch of Blues and Jazz in Janapada for ‘Nimbiya’. I brought in Guitars and Daf for ‘Sojugada’. It was a new approach and people enjoyed it.

Do you think there is music being produced for your style?

Not all songs suit me. Sometimes, the music directors sit with me for composition. They stylise the song according to my voice and tonality and such songs do well. But in case a composer completes a song and then asks me to sing, the song might not entirely work as it isn’t fully ‘mine’. I sat with Charan (Raj) sir during the composition of ‘Hold on’ and ‘Mental Ho Jawa’ from ‘Tagaru’. He composed according to my scale.

Thanks to the success of franchise and pan-India films, what are the prospects of you becoming a multilingual singer?

My compositions in Tamil and Telugu will probably release by the end of the year. I have also sung ‘Sojugada’ in Marathi. I have always wanted to sing in different languages. I had learnt Telugu and Tamil. I also used to watch a lot of Malayalam movies just to get the accent. So that helped. Also, my father is a Sanskrit lecturer and I was exposed to a lot of shlokas. If you can speak Sanskrit, any language becomes easy.

Most of your songs are solo…

Every singer’s voice and pitch is
different. I can rock any solo song. When it comes to duet, there is a
limitation. My voice is not very shrill. My tonality is different and even if I do sing such songs, the reach will be very less. I am very happy that I am gifted with this voice. I know my range well and I can play around with it. I feel every singer should be comfortable with their voice and be proud of their pitch flexibility.