SUNEETA RAO

Spicing it up!

After what seems to be a long time (it’s three years to be precise),
self-proclaimed `pari’ Suneeta Rao has come out with her new album titled Ab Ke Baras, released by HMV. The dusky singer with the husky voice tells us that the three-year hiatus gave her ample time to indulge in her other passions, besides singing...

Suneeta Rao has the distinction of being among the first pop singers on the Indian scene, alongwith Alisha Chinai and Shweta Shetty. Although she has sung quite a few hit pop numbers namely Kesariya, Pari hoon main, Dehka dehka, and also hit item numbers for films like Saara shahar aaj jaagega, main sabki neende udaa doongi (Ghulam-e-Mustafa), and some rapping in the the title song of Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Suneeta is still remembered mostly for her Pari number. “Yeah, that’s the song which has kept me alive in people’s memories,” smiles the singer, clad in a white churidar-kurta and sporting a prominent nose-ring, “Even if I was absent from the Indi-pop scene for three years, it didn’t make much difference to my career.” (Well, the singer should thank dandiya-queen Falguni Pathak for that, who makes it a point to sing her Pari song during Navratri).

So what was Suneeta doing during this three-year hiatus, if not making music? “My last pop song was Chhodo yeh chhoti chhoti baatein for a Magnasound album, brought out to commemorate 50 years of our independence. After that I was busy with my shows. Then I took up a play, a musical titled The Man From La Mancha, with Dalip Tahil, which did quite well. I toured different parts of India with that musical. I was also in New York for six months, during which I enrolled in a dance school at the famous Broadway Street, and updated myself in Latin dance. I learnt jazz ballet too,” explains the singer.

Even as she was pursuing her other hobbies, the dusky singer with the husky voice was on a lookout for a composer to work on her new album. Suneeta and her music company HMV (which she has stuck to right from the time it released her first pop album) decided on Anand Raaj Anand, who is known for composing catchy songs. “Anand had expressed his desire to work with me and he comes up with real good folksy-modern music. Even I had been wanting to work with a film composer, so things fell in place. We started recording songs almost three years back, and kept on improvising on them, and re-recorded some songs to incorprate the present trends in music. I have literally lived with the album for three years. So Ab Ke Baras is a labour of hard work,” she says.

Suneeta reveals that while in New York, she also learnt Western classical singing, and did a course in voice and body relaxation technique, which helped her a great deal in improving her voice quality. “The course was a blessing for a performer like me,” says the singer twirling her wiry curls, “It improved my range to a great extent. I could feel the advantage when I had to sing songs, one after another, for the musical Man From La Mancha. And I could also feel the difference when I re-recorded some songs for Ab Ke Baras after the voice technique course.”

Talking about Ab Ke Baras, Suneeta says, “It’s sophisticated yet commercial, and that’s what HMV wanted. The whole idea was to bring into the album the feel of Hindi film music. Because that’s what I have been listening to all my life. I love Hindi film music. And Anand has given that film music feel to the pop songs. Ab Ke Baras has lyrical melodies sung with a slight filmi tone, yet it is hip-hop, and groovy like pop.”

According to Suneeta, she is guided by her instinct when working on an album, and not the dictates of the trends in the music market. “I go by the gut feeling,” she states, “What matters to me is that I should enjoy what I am doing. I had a whale of a time singing for Ab Ke Baras because it has all kinds of numbers. The title track is folksy, Roothe rahiyo is uptempo club, a step ahead of Kesariya, while Gumnaam ajnabi is a bluesy song. Then you have Kaali kaali ankhiyaan which reminds you of an O.P. Nayyar song, and there’s also a salsa type number, which is the present craze. The base for all songs is romance, which is the theme of the album.”

The singer equally enjoyed shooting for the lavish video for the title song, directed by filmmaker Prakash Jha. “The video’s quite extravagant, and Prakash Jha treated it like a film song,” says Suneeta flashing her trademark wide smile, “We shot the video in the deserts of Bikaner, in sweltering heat, and the rainy part was shot in a studio. Nimesh Bhatt has choregraphed the dance beautifully.”

Like other pop singers, Suneeta too has sung what they call ‘item’ numbers for films. “Besides Ghulam-e-Mustafa and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, I have sung for Khiladiyon Ke Khiladi, Sapoot and Laawaris,” she informs. In Laawaris, the song Dehka dehka was picturised on Suneeta herself, alongwith Akshaye Khanna. “Oh yes, I had completely forgotten that. Thanks for reminding me,” she tells us and adds, “My latest film song is for the film Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, a duet with Kamaal Khan. One of my favourite numbers is the title song for the teleserial Swabhimaan, Ek pal hai zindagi, which is still remembered.”

Suneeta says she would like to sing more often for films, and that too not just the groovy, fast-paced tracks, but also the slow, lilting numbers.

“Unfortunately, I have been slotted as far as film songs are concerned,” she complains, “I only get to sing particular type of numbers, since composers feel they go well with my husky voice. But I wish they try me out in other type of songs as well.”

Coming back to her pop career, doesn’t Suneeta find it necessary to time her albums at short intervals, since it’s important in today’s super-competetive age? “I don’t care for the competition,” she says dismissively with the wave of her hand, “The pop scene today is much better, with so many more singers on the scene. Earlier there was no pop industry, today it’s booming.” She continues, “This three-year break was the longest bewteeen two albums in my career, and yes, I did take a risk. But my music has carried me through. People are curious to know what’s coming from me and they do ask me when I’ll be releasing my new album. Which means they do keep me in mind. I feel it is better to do albums few and far between, and last longer, then keep churning out albums and kill yourself with an overdose.”

Among her contemporaries, Suneeta is bowled over by Shubha Mudgal. “She’s got real powerful vocals,” the singer says in admiration, “Hers are the only albums I listen to, besides those made by my friends like Shankar Mahadevan, Parvez Qadir and others.”

When we met her, the sultry singer was eagerly looking forwad to performing at the Bollywood Music Awards in New York, organised partly by Shiamak Davar, on November 12. “Whitney Houston, who’s my idol, is supposed to attend the function. I can’t believe I’ll be actually meeting her there,” she concludes excitedly, flashing that wide, toothy smile again.

Salma Khatib

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