Sairam

2 in one

He couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate song for his debut album. Aisa Bhi Kabhi Hota Hai is what you feel the moment you hear Sairam, the latest entrant to the pop scene. People who have watched his music video, a spoof on the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam number, will know what we are talking about. But for those who have yet to catch this interesting and amusing video (which we believe is impossible), here’s the dope. Sairam has this unique ability to sing in a female’s voice besides, of course, crooning in his usual male voice.

The response Sairam has got for his feat ranges from overwhelmingly positive to a tad negative. “Some people take me for a freak while some can’t believe I am the one who sings the song. But thanks to the video, things have started changing,” informs Sairam with a wide grin.
A lot of effort has gone into making the innovative video. Sai-ram was particular that his dual ability be established in the video rightaway, and yet he didn’t want it to be thrust on the viewers. He approached a few well-known video directors with the song but none of them could come up with a good idea. Finally, it was Suresh Thomas, MD, BMG Crescendo - the company which released the album - who suggested that the video be humorous. The idea of making a spoof was born.
Colossus who’s directed the video zeroed in on the Hum Dil... number because it was the rage then. Needless to say, the idea worked and Sairam became popular overnight.

Which makes us wonder how he manages to sing in a dual voice? “As a child I used to sing in a female voice aping the various female singers. As I grew I realised that I could still sing in a soft voice. It’s purely a God’s gift which I have developed,” says Sairam gratefully. But it was not easy for him to convince his peers and teachers of his need to continue singing in a female voice. “Except for one teacher, everybody else told me that I would spoil my voice if I continue singing in a soft voice,” recalls Sairam. It was his guru Pandit Nadkarni who encouraged him to develop his talent terming it as God’s gift. In fact, he asked him to sing a thumri in a female voice at his college day annuals. A bit anxious about the response he would get, Sairam started the number hesitantly. He needn’t have worried, for within minutes there was a pindrop silence in the auditorium. Sairam impressed one and all with his flawless rendering. As they say, since then, there was no looking back.

Yet, it took a long time for him to actually come out with an album that displayed his charming talent. “I did sing a few Marathi folk numbers in the female voice but nobody would know that I had sung it because I sang in a pseudo name Saishree,” he informs cheerfully. Sairam attributes the reason for adapting a pseudo name to, “people are not so broadminded.” But all that’s a thing of the past now.

Sairam can’t stop thanking his friends, Manohar Iyer the lyricist and Santosh Nair, the composer, who he says have done a “wonderful job”. If not for them the album Sairam Aur Sairam wouldn’t have happened, he confesses. Now that the album is out, Sairam wants to move on and enter the field of playback singing. As a female singer or male singer? “Either, but I love singing in a female voice, because I find it more attractive,” he says tongue-in-cheek. But Sairam is not waiting for offers, he is busy regaling audiences in India and abroad with his stage shows. He’s already performed in over 1500 stage shows and at various cultural festivals. He’s also had the distinction of performing with the guitar legend Carlos Santana at a show in Los Angeles.

But right now he is awaiting the audiences’ verdict for his album which comprises six songs. He’s rendered two songs in a female voice, two in a male voice and two in both the voices. “I have given all colours in the album,” declares Sairam in his melodious voice. Whether it’s in a female voice or a male voice, we’re not telling.

Chaya Unnikrishnan