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Sunidhi Chauhan

Going places

For someone as young as she is, Sunidhi Chauhan, indeed, has a powerful voice. True to the adage that you can’t keep talent down, she is finding her place in Mumbai’s cut-throat music industry.

I have found that training in light Indian classical music actually helps you even while singing English songs.

She sings Lata Mangeshkar and Ila Arun as effortlessly as she executes Mariah Carey and Shania Twain. And no, she isn’t one of your mimicry artistes, thank you.

Sunidhi Chauhan is all of 15 years old (the day we meet is the eve of her birthday) but you wouldn’t believe it when you hear her resonant, full-throated voice belt out these and other singers’ numbers with immaculate accents and flawless sur. With the wisdom of a much-older maiden, she informs me that she will never be branded as a mimic for the very good reason that “I actually do not imitate their voices. I pick up their styles and sing in MY own voice!” She makes me listen to scratch recordings she has done of Mariah Carey and Masquerade, and anyone listening without prior knowledge will never believe that it is an Indian singer at work, let alone someone who has yet to reach the stage of ‘I am sixteen going on seventeen!’

Her duet with Sonu Nigam, Ruki ruki thi zindagi from Mast is fast racing up the charts as the mainstay of that Sandeep Chowta score, and Sunidhi’s all set to go places. Shyam Benegal wanted her for a song in Samar, which she recorded for composer Vanraj Bhatia. Anand-Milind have recorded two songs with her for Karisma Kapoor in the hot proposition Jaanwar. Sunidhi is now in the USA as part of the concert tour with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

At home, her father Dushyant fills me in on the background details of her career and the family.

The Chauhan family hails from UP but were based in Delhi till the family chucked up everything and came to Mumbai after realising Sunidhi’s extraordinary potential. “We had no musician in our family. We were merely good listeners,” informs dad. But they all realised that Sunidhi was especially blessed by Providence when she exhibited a phenomenal musical grasp of the meatier variety of songs. “Har baccha gaata hai,” he says. “But he or she picks up catchy songs. Sunidhi always went in for the raag-based ones, the mature ones. One of her earliest favourites was Lataji’s Main kewal tumhare liye gaa rahi hoon. A family friend who was a professional singer told me that Sunidhi was amazing. Through him, she was even invited to sing at a major programme organised by the Delhi Police and she held the audience captive on her own.”

That’s when the Chauhan family (comprising a younger daughter, Suneha) decided to shift to Mumbai. “Although we wanted to develop her talent I had no intention of making her earn for all of us. I wanted her to learn music, too, and do shows which would get her the right exposure and standing.”

Through contacts, Sunidhi joined Tabassum’s troupe and was introduced to composer Kalyanji(-Anandji). Sunidhi was the inspiration behind Kalyanjibhai’s concept of Little Wonders, a programme by child prodigies. He would call her his “opening batsman” and Sunidhi was one of the two major highlights of the show. Her tour de force would be the Lamhe hit, Morni baaga ma bole aadhi raat maa, which Sunidhi would sing in the twin styles of Lata Mangeshkar and Ila Arun. “But somehow Sunidhi’s talent wasn’t flowering the way it should have, and so she left,” says her father.

The search for a proper guru left Sunidhi’s father disillusioned. “We had learnt that nothing should be there between guru and shishya besides the knowledge one imparts to the other. Here we found professional gurus who wanted unaffordable fees and also laid down absolutely rigid and unreasonable conditions. We had almost given up hope when Kavita Krishnamurthi introduced us to Gautam Mukherjee, and he is really dedicated. He’s polishing Sunidhi’s technique and voice and inculcating her into the basics of classical music.”

After the Little Wonders phase, Sunidhi began to do the rounds of composers and did get to sing in a few films like Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke (still unreleased) for Vishal, and Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, Dahek, Bade Dilwala and Shastra for Aadesh Shrivastav. And then she got a big ‘break’ when HMV offered her an album with Raju Singh as composer and Sameer as lyricist.

Sunidhi’s father would rather forget the whole episode. “Raju Singh and Sameer really worked extremely hard, but the album was botched up by the company by including a children’s song like Aira gaira nathu khaira as the lead and video track. The whole idea that Sunidhi would showcase her mature voice and range came a cropper because they projected this track. The inlay too was designed like a children’s album inlay, though Sunidhi had sung a whole range of lovely songs like Badraa chhane laga hai, Jeeyo magar hanske, Swapna paree and others which were folk-based, semi-classical and pop-oriented. Tell me, who will buy what appears to be a children’s album at the steep price of Rs. 60? But they refused to understand this point and the album went unnoticed! And they were unapologetic about it too!”

But things changed when singer Sonu Nigam recommended her to Sandeep Chowta. The music director asked them to meet him and bring a demo cassette of her songs. Sunidhi preferred to sing in front of Sandeep - live and extempore! The music director was zapped when Sunidhi belted out every conceivable type of Indian and Western numbers. And Sunidhi came in to sing three songs for Ram Gopal Varma in Mast.

Every singer needs a composer who understands her in and out. Sunidhi has found one in Sandeep, who dreams of recording several songs specially designed for Sunidhi. She has also recorded for the Tamil version of Mast and for two big Southern films for which Chowta is scoring music. She has also recorded Malayalam songs in praise of Jesus Christ for a religious album.

At this juncture, Sunidhi walks in confidently, flashing a smile when I wish her “happy birthday” a day in advance. Sunidhi has just returned from week’s stay in Chennai for her recordings with Sandeep and is all set to leave for her extensive US tour.

How do you manage both singing and studies? You were recently away for a week in Chennai and are shortly leaving for the US. Doesn’t your schoolwork suffer?
It does suffer to an extent, but I study at the Ajivasan High School (Suresh Wadkar’s institute) and the teachers and my friends there are very co-operative and help me out if I have to take these breaks.

But since singing is going to be your career, don’t you sometimes feel like giving up studies?
No, I do not feel that way. Graduate to mujhe banna hi hai! And my parents also want me to finish my education.

How did you get exposed to Western music?
Through TV channels. I realised that there was a whole new world of music and knowledge out there. I then began to buy CDs and listen more and more to all kinds of music from the West. Jazz is a particular favourite of mine as there is a lot of improvisation in it like Indian music. In fact, learning jazz can be a plus point for any singer. But there is so much to learn, there are so many singers, each with such a distinctive style. I try to imbibe whatever I can from them. If I can put even some of it into practice, I will be a better singer.

Do you have any favourites in Western music?
There was a time when my knowledge of Western music was restricted to Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. But now I listen to so many artistes and styles of music. I am very fond of Carpenters, Shania Twain and Aijarreu.

You are now learning light classical music after so many years of natural singing. Don’t you think that it may actually rob you of your spontaneity?
No, I don’t think so, because I am not going in for full-fledged training in classical music. Besides I have found that training in light Indian classical music actually helps you even while singing English songs. Our murkiyaan can help an artiste in the finer aspects of singing Western music too. Music, in any case, is an ocean and I would like to acquire at least a drop of that ocean.

What else has Sandeep Chowta recorded with you?
I have recorded many jingles for him in Kannada and Malayalam and recorded for the film Mallika in Telugu. For others in the South, I have also recorded Kripa and Divya Prapancham, which are albums on Jesus Christ and Easter.

As a 15-year-old, you often recorded songs that convey many emotions you may not even have experienced yourself! How are you able to do justice to them?
If the music director does not explain in detail and finds me falling short, I will keep asking him for instructions. I will only let go of the song if I fail in the end (Smiles). But I will not fail!

Your dad has left everything to further your career. Doesn’t this put any psychological pressure on you?
No, there is no pressure. But I do feel grateful for the confidence he had in me. And that spurs me to do my best.

Where does your ultimate ambition lie - nationally for internationally?
Definitely internationally. Mera ek alag hi sapna hai. I do not want to be another Lata Mangeshkar but the first Sunidhi Chauhan! My dream is to record live with the best artistes from abroad!