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Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

MAKING OF AN USTAAD Vasundhara Das: ‘I’ve been a singer from day one and it’s the single-minded reason for my being in the industry’

The voice is still as young and fresh as the innocent soft face that took centre stage in Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding.’ One wouldn’t be able to tell that this same tinkling voice sang the sensational ‘Shakalaka Baby’ number for A.R. Rahman a few years ago, catapulting this Bangalore girl into Bollywood. Her voice is now a constant on FM radios with recent tracks such as ‘It’s the time to disco’ and ‘Where’s the party tonight?’

Vasundhara is now busy on the 9X channel show ‘Mission Ustaad,’ the show that hopes to communicate the essence of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations through music. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders committed their nations to stronger global efforts to reduce poverty, improve health, promote peace, human rights and environmental sustainability, setting a series of time-bound targets with a deadline of 2015. India is among the 192 countries that have pledged to achieve the goals. A rather lofty goal for a music show, one would think. But Vasundhara sees it as a nice challenge.

“In this country it is rare to club a music show with a cause. But the music doesn’t take away from the purpose. We have been single-minded in our effort.”

Has being in a music show and being judged by the likes of A.R. Rahman and Javed Akhtar put her in the shoes of talent hunt contestants? “It didn’t seem so bad. We’re not being judged as singers, but for our thought process and how we adapt to the theme. It’s not so dire a situation and the competition is ‘by the way’ for me. It’s more about what I’m communicating through the song.”

Rahman, she says, has seen the best and worst of most of the singers on the show. “I’ve been there done that with him…but with Javed saab it’s a first.”

After starting her acting career with ‘Hey Ram,’ and later having been in the limelight in ‘Monsoon Wedding,’ Vasundhara hasn’t taken on any major film. “No, I’ve been a singer from day one and it’s the single-minded reason for my being in the industry. If I have to do a film, that’s a huge commitment. I’d always go with the music.” However she did act in the Kannada film ‘Lankesh Patrike’ and the Malayalam film ‘Ravana Prabhu’ and a couple of other Hindi films.

Spending more time in Mumbai, however, means that her world music group Arya that she formed with friend Roberto Narayanan in Bangalore takes a backseat. “Music has to be played together to keep a group going. I’ve been very busy travelling and recording, doing live concerts.”

She manages to come to Bangalore twice a month. “I’m an only daughter…,” she laughs. “I’m still a Bangalore person. It’s who I am and it’s given me a lot of intangibles. Mumbai works out work-wise.” A student of Mount Carmel College, one of her most vivid memories is of being booed off stage in an auditorium full of students. “It was my first performance in college and there was such whistling and hooting when I sang ‘Dil hai ki maanta nahin’,” she laughs.

Private albums are also off her list as of now, she says. “I’ve been working on stuff. But the way the music industry is working now, even the non-film music scene, one doesn’t want to put sweat and blood into something like that…now Bollywood rules the roost.”

Vasundhara is quick to say that she’s enjoying her stint in Bollywood as much as she loves her other music.

With a tendency to have that space to do what she wants, she’s has been able to combine her early learning of Hindustani classical, her passion for Flamenco, her penchant for western music through her college days, and her panache to add pep to Hindi and Tamil film music. “I’ve got the best of both worlds,” she declares.

But hasn’t she been slotted in Bollywood? “Even if people expect it (certain kind of music) from me, I don’t mind. People keep dancing right through my shows and that’s cool with me,” she tinkles with laughter.

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