Mumbai makes me feel free, creative: Aditi Singh Sharma
After debuting as a singer with Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D, Aditi Singh Sharma, slowly but surely won hearts all over with her energetic and peppy numbers. Her songs like Dilli Dilli (No One Killed Jessica), Luv Ka The End (Luv Ka The End), Raabta (Agent Vinod), Main Heroine Hoon (Heroine) and others left the whole nation humming and grooving to her tunes. We got a chance to catch up with her during the 3rd Edition of The Worli Festival and she won us over with her insight into life, music and food like she has won over the industry with her powerful and melodious voice. Here’s an excerpt from the interview…
What about this festival excited you the most and made you want to be a part of it?
It is always amazing to perform in Mumbai and am really excited to be a part of the 3rd Edition of The Worli Festival. Seeing the city experiencing an open air concert and since I am going to close the event, I am really looking forward to it.
You have worked in both Hollywood and Bollywood projects. How do they differ from a singer’s perspective?
I think mostly the difference would be the language and how you deliver because they’re two different dialects. We have so much international music that gets incorporated in Bollywood these days, the styles are all coming together, which is interesting. However, at the end, it depends on the composition and that makes a the biggest difference.
Having performed with bands and recorded with renowned music directors, which one do you believe offers more creative freedom and which one do you enjoy more?
I have always loved being on stage and in the studio equally. I feel that both are very different jobs and it is not necessary that every good live performer will be a great singer in the studio and every good singer in the studio will be a great live performer. I am working hard on both aspects, I have always been very closely related to the stage and the studio. In terms of creative freedom, again it depends on who are you working with. Most music directors these days give you the freedom to try new things to improvise. Being on stage, one gets absolute freedom as it is your show and you get to do what you want. In terms of my own career, I have a lot of fan following from my live performances, people have enjoyed attending my shows, and they have also loved my songs, that makes me enjoy both equally.
The theme of the festival was CELEBRATE LIFE. How do you celebrate life on a day-to-day basis and what is the one mantra in life that you swear by?
Celebrating life is really important, and it is amazing. The opportunity to travel with great performers, with my band, with Pritam and my friends gives me great joy. It is amazing to do this every day since my best friend is a part of my band and you always get time to spend with him. When I am not working, you will find me watching TV, or cooking. The mantra is just to be happy, it is really important to do things that make you happy. I believe in the old saying, ‘spend as much money and time on what is necessary but just do something that will make you happy.
I have read that you love to cook. Music and food are often considered to be things that bind people together, help overcome barriers and are the key themes in this festival. How has your experience changed/confirmed this belief?
I always say that I’m very lucky to be associated with music & food, ‘Khana aur Gana’. I love cooking, it’s more of a creative thing for me. I don’t really follow recipes or go to the kitchen thinking what I’m going to make. Cooking for me is more of what’s available in the kitchen and putting interesting flavours together. I absolutely enjoy cooking for my loved ones. My friends keep requesting me to cook new things for them and music of course. When my friends try my food, I get so much love for my cooking and the same thing goes for my music – receiving love from whoever comes to my shows or whoever listens to me sing. Definitely food and music have a lot to do with bringing people together. I always say that, no matter what language you’re singing in or listening to, no matter what cuisine your are eating, music and food are two humongous things that bring people together, you can sit with numerous people and have such a great time. Good food and music makes everybody happy.
What excites you most about performing in front of a live audience?
What makes me the happiest is just being there in front of the people. I have not come from any kind of show or television background. I’ve reached here through my live performances and my songs. So I get the opportunity to meet different people at these kind of shows and get so much love from the listeners and my fans. The greatest thing is the energy and specially that everybody is having a good time, singing and dancing together. It’s really an amazing feeling, specially at these festivals because it’s a public show, anybody and everybody can walk by and it’s just that connect you have between them and you through the music.
Having grown up outside of this city, how do you feel this city has been to you and what would you say about its spirit?
This city has been very kind to me. I’ve been living here for about 7-8 years now. It’s not a very easy city to be in because for people who are not from here, who are just here to get a place to stay at and to start work, there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it, especially in our field to be settled and be doing okay at what you do and to be comfortable. But I think at the end of it the amount of handwork that you put in, comes back later in the form of comfort. Of course there have been hardships for anybody who doesn’t stay in the city, which could be anywhere. Yet I feel really free, creative and the best at what I do.
What message about life would you like to convey through your music?
During every performance of mine, I just want people to come and have fun because that is what I would like to do. When I go to see a performance, I would like to have a great time interacting with people, see them all sing and dance along, take loads of pictures and just enjoy. I absolutely believe in celebrating life because that’s what we are there to do. For the time I will get on stage, it is will be my time to sing my songs or someone else’s songs and have the audience enjoy and have a great time. I am really looking forward to it!
Content – Bodhirupa Raha
