"I simply closed my eyes and sang"

Excerpt from rediff movies (2002):

Shreya Ghoshal is a typical college girl.

What makes Shreya different from the rest of her ilk is the fact that she has bagged the biggest film of the year - Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Jackie Shroff. Shreya playbacks for Aishwarya Rai (who plays Paro).

Eighteen-year-old Shreya considers herself very lucky. It is not everyday that a filmmaker like Sanjay Leela Bhansali calls you up and offers you a film. The singer, like the rest of the cast and crew, is obsessed with her debut film - she has even set her mobile phone ringtone to Bairi Piya, her song in Devdas.

Shreya, who arrived in Mumbai five years ago after spending her childhood near Kota in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan, discloses how she bagged the coveted film: "Sa Re Ga Ma, a popular Indian television show at the time, was on the lookout for talented singers. I grabbed the opportunity and mailed my songs in a cassette. Within days, I was called to audition." She sang her way to the children's finals, where she won.

The judges, musical duo Kalyanji-Anandji were so impressed with her that Kalyanji took her under his wing and trained her for a year-and-half.

When Bhansali noticed Shreya on the show, he knew immediately that this was the voice he wanted for Paro. It had innocence.

Shreya continues, "Sanjayji tried to trace me. I remember that phone call. I could not believe that the director of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was on the line, asking for me. The film was such a hit, yet Sanjayji was so polite and humble. I was speechless."

Shreya was auditioned and selected. She remembers her first sitting: March 9, 2000. And the first song she recorded was Bairi Piya, "I remember I was asked to rehearse the song once before finally recording it. I simply closed my eyes and sang without a break. When I opened my eyes, I noticed a lot of excitement and chaos outside the recording room. Then Sanjayji told me I had sung the song so well that they had recorded it at one go."

The song has done very well on the Indian charts and has made Shreya very popular in her social circle. "My friends keep teasing me with, Issh [a refrain in the song]! I do not mind it."

Playbacking for Aishwarya is almost a dream come true for Shreya. She states, "I have always admired Aishwarya. I was so excited when I realised I would sing for her. I met her first on the sets of Devdas. She is so humble. I remember between shots, we would sit together, and Sanjayji would ask me to sing Lataji's (Mangeshkar) songs. Aishwarya has a ear for music, so she would join in too."

She adds, "When I sang, I imagined myself to be Paro. Just like Aishwarya. I tried to bring in the Paro's pain, confidence and innocence."

About the director, Shreya says, "I never imagined I would work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He guided me a lot. I was nervous initially, but the cast and crew were so good to me. Ismailji [Durbar, composer] was also very nice to me."

What is most memorable for her is the experience of singing with those she had always admired - Udit Narayan, Kavita Subramanium, Jaspinder Narula, K K and Pandit Birju Maharaj. "They encouraged me to give my best. I remember once, Uditji told me that since I had talent and luck, no one could stop me from achieving my goals. This was a great moral boost, coming from such a senior artiste."

She adds, "Kavitaji and I sang Dola re dola together. We had a great time. I kept observing her."

Shreya, who first performed at four, says her mother is an amateur classical singer and her a music aficionado. Her father, an engineer working at Mumbai's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, took a transfer from Kota to Mumbai only to further his daughter's interests. "When Kalyanji offered to train me, I was still in Kota. He advised my father to take a transfer to Mumbai if I wanted a career in music."

Shreya also has her own plans. "I want to establish myself in the industry. Then I will cut an [independent] album. I want to come out with a new concept, break the monotony in music. Lata Mangeshkar's Meera bhajan was so out of the ordinary, a trendsetter. I too want to explore different styles of music."

Today's song special - one of my favourites

Check out today's song special from the movie Lage Raho Munnabhai, definitely worth listening. Click on Pal Pal

Shreya song from the the movie Armaan

To listen, click on Armaan - Tu Hi Bata Zindagi

Who is Shreya Ghoshal?

Okay folks, this site is not just dedicated to Shreya Ghoshal, but also open for discussion if you just take a look at the categories listed on top.

As for Shreya Ghoshal, I am planning to randomly post news, pictures and songs of her. Please feel free to leave your comments behind. Also, do not hesitate to let me know if you have any suggestions on what else I can provide.

If you have not heard of her... do read on. If you have heard of her, hmm... do read on. Haha, by the way if you want to add Shreya Ghoshal in friendster, you can do so by using s2571890@yahoo.com Coincidentally that also happens to be the email address you may contact if you have any concerns or queries. Have a nice day.

For the uninitiated, Shreya Ghoshal is a high-rising star in the Indian music scene with heaps of hit numbers under her belt. Turning point in her career was when she sang for Aishwarya Rai in the movie, Devdas. Has won a few national awards and numerous other awards even before turning 20.

Of Bengali origin, Ghoshal was born on March 12, 1984 and grew up in the remote northwestern corner of Rajasthan, in the small township of Rawatbhata near the city of Kota. Her father works in Bhabha Atomic Research Center as an Engineer in the nuclear power plant by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (BARC) and mother is a postgraduate in literature. She belongs to a highly academic family.

Her early days as a singer started from the age of four. Her mother was a good singer and whenever she used to play any note on the harmonium,Shreya used to sing correctly of her own. Her father recognized her talent and decided to give her proper training. But as she was residing in an isolated place near Kota, Rajasthan. Later on she started going to Kota and started learning proper Hindustani classical music.

She auditioned for Sa Re Ga Ma, an Indian television show, and they sent her for a year and a half of training. It was here that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali discovered her and determined that she should be the voice of Paro, the heroine in his 2002 film Devdas (played on-screen by Aishwarya Rai). She began recording songs for the movie 2 years prior to the release of the film.

Moviegoers from across the world heard Ghoshal's sweet-as-honey singing voice picturised on Aishwarya Rai, and she quickly became one of the top female playback singers in Bollywood, alongside Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam and Kavita Krishnamurthy. Since Devdas, she has gone on to sing for many more actresses under the baton of various music directors.

From winning accolades as a child singer to working with some of the top names in the film and music business, the journey was not very hard for Shreya as she has become an young achiever in such a short span. She targeted doing good work and has won many awards (8 awards in a single year including a National Award).

Shreya Ghoshal has completed her college education and is planning to pursue her MA in literature, a subject which she adores. She enjoys symphony and instrumental in western music and her favourite is the ABBA group. Indian music, however, is definitely her soul. Her voice has a texture that suits romantic songs and she can project voice very well (a fine example is "Jadu Hai Nasha Hai" from Jism ). She is also comfortable singing sad songs or peppy songs. She has recorded in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Marathi, besides Hindi.