A musical journey

Did you know, I came to India with dreams of being an actor? Well, they say life is full of surprises and I guess I was destined to be a singer.

Though I was born in India, I grew up in New York. I was part of college theatre as well. As a matter of fact, I was one of the few Indians to be a part of a Walt Disney Broadway musical.

Music director Ganesh Kumar had seen my performance and suggested I take up singing as I had good voice. It was he who suggested that I shift to Chennai and try my options in singing. Though I had acting on my mind, I decided to take his advice.

I reached Chennai and the first person I met was Ganesh. He called me in for a recording, which he replayed for composer Harris Jayaraj. The next day, Ganesh called to say Harris would like to work with me. It was just about three days since I landed, and I had already got the opportunity to record my first song for Harris in Vettaiyadu Vilaydu. That was my big break.

I got into singing without any formal training. However, it was SB Balasubramaniam who guided me through my career. I knew him even before I joined the music industry. He still continues to give me advice. However, singing for AR Rahman was my dream. It took me around seven years to realise that dream. It will always remain an unforgettable moment.

Getting into the music industry is not exactly easy. Today, with the amount of reality shows for singers being telecasted, competition is very high. I see a lot of young children participating in these reality shows with dreams of making it big. It’s good to have such dreams, but they shouldn’t give up on education for this. It makes sense to find a balance between the two. One always needs to prepared, as we have no idea what the future holds for us.

— As told to Sharanya CR