I cannot remove the emotion out of my work: Shilpa Rao

The singer’s new song ‘Aadhe Aadhe Se’ was released as part of a Netflix film

She’s the voice behind the popular ‘Khuda Jaane’ (Bachna Ae Haseena), ‘Gustakh Dil’ (English Vinglish), ‘Malang’ (Dhoom 3), ‘Subhanallah’ (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) and ‘Ghungroo’ (War).

Now Shilpa Rao is in the news again for ‘Aadhe Aadhe Se’ from ‘Raat Akeli Hai’ on Netflix.

She’s the kind of musician who likes to know what’s happening with the song and the emotion with it. So when she was recording ‘Aadhe Aadhe Se’, Shilpa recalls how the whole crew was present.

“The director, Honey Trehan, took the time to explain the whole song and that was very important to me,” she says.

However, having to release her new movie song during the lockdown was not something she expected.

This is also the song for which she reunited with Sneha Khalwankar after ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.

She says laughing, “I met her through Anurag Kashyap (who directed the film). We weren’t getting along well and one day he made us sit together like kids and sorted the problem out.”

“It didn’t really work but we bumped into each other many other times and somewhere over the years, we grew as people. I guess we needed time and space,” she adds.

However, it was not just Shilpa’s professionalism that allowed them to work together again.

“I am very emotional about my work; it’s not just about being professional. It may not be a good approach but that’s how it is.

I cannot remove the emotion. At all my recordings and stage performances, if I have a glitch, it bothers me. I will feel like I haven’t done a good day’s work,” says Shilpa.

That is perhaps why her new song has become a hit. She says, “It’s a song about the journey of a person, of how a person transforms.

In the film, it’s set at a time when the sun is about to rise — it’s that interim period. It’s so beautifully written too.”

Looking back at how far she has come, the ‘Bulleya’ singer says she is thankful to everyone in her life.

“Most of the time, the people I have worked with don’t really spend time talking about music. We have conversations about life. I consider Pritam a guide to me, with whom I can have a heart-to-heart conversation with. There’s also Vishal and Shekar, Amitabh Bhattacharya, and Anand Mishra, among others. These are all people I cannot have a conversation with for months and pick up from where we left off.”

Shilpa has come a long way since she started her Bollywood career in 2007. Having written jingles and tried different genres of music, she has learnt to take criticism.

“Back in the day, when I had just started, there were music reviews online. I would read all of them diligently, review by review, and see what’s said about my performance. I would get so many calls from friends and colleagues saying they liked my song,” she says.

“The whole process of releasing songs is different now. We are told in advance by producers that the song will be released on so and so day and we have to get started on the promotional activities,” she adds.

This time, all the promotions have been happening over digital platforms.

“As a musician, staying at home and devoting that much time to music has been a plus point. It does ware me down when I think about the times — it’s been a roller coaster for everyone,”
Shilpa says.