JOIN USSinger Shilpa combines Bollywood with indie
If you are familiar with new-age Bollywood songs, the name Shilpa Rao should not be a surprise. She rendered her voice to hits like ‘Khuda Jaane’ (Bachna Ae Haseeno), ‘Subhanallah’ (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) and ‘Yaariyan’ (Cocktail), to name a few.
Her voice is so versatile that she can sing a soothing love song to a peppy party number effortlessly.
She’s quite choosy when it comes to her projects though. She’s been in the industry for 2007 but you’d probably get to hear her voice only a couple of times in a year. “It’s not a deliberate decision to sing less but it just so happens that the songs I’ve been called for are unique. The songs have been written and composed so well that I feel the need to connect to the listeners with the song,” says Shilpa. Her latest is ‘Shaabaasiyaan’ and ‘Dil Mein Mars Hai’ in ‘Mission Mangal’. Penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya and composed by Amit Trivedi, working on this song felt like she’s back home.
She explains, “There was already a comfort factor when it came to this bunch as I’ve worked with them before. The lyrics are so inspiring and Amitabh has written it so beautifully. I don’t know how he does it but he uses simple words to bring out emotions.”
Having watched the visuals of the song, she says that it helped her churn out the song better.
Her approach to singing is not just watching the visuals first though.
“Whenever I’m called in for a project, I enter the studio with a blank mind. I listen to what is told to me but I ask what the emotion of the song should be. When the lyricists explains that to me, I then know how to add my own touch to it.”
She’s been fortunate to have worked with some of the famous composers like Mithoon, Pritam, Vishal and Shekar, to name a few, and they have given her the freedom to be herself.
“To be honest, I still don’t know how to sing for a film. All I know is to sing like myself,” says Shilpa.
Her approach to capturing the essence is to understand its expression. “I try and find what makes each song unique. The inspiration to do that can come from either the song, lyrics, composition or the track itself. I derive from that and try to relate that with the listeners.”
“My effort is to make the song sound like itself. I believe that a song is beyond the composer, director, lyricists and the song itself. It’s a supreme identity. I keep that in mind and let the song speak for itself,” she explains. Before the Bollywood singer came into the industry, she worked on various jingles. She still continues to do that sometimes.
She says, “I love doing jingles because it taught me everything a professional should know. The people I worked with taught me how to be a recording artiste.”
Apart from Bollywood, she also collaborates with independent artistes. As selective as this artiste is, the next time we get to hear her voice will be a Vishal and Shekar composition for the film ‘War’. “I really hope the audience like the song. I look forward to seeing their reaction,” she signs off.