Shreya Ghoshal interview: On ‘All Hearts Tour’, memorable film recordings and AI in music

Shreya Ghoshal talks about her musical journey, from her memorable first film recording to her upcoming concert in Chennai.

Maestro Ilaiyaaraja’s first film recording was full of drama. Way back in 1976, even as the composer assembled his musical team to record the first song of his debut Tamil film ‘Annakili’, the power went off.

Shreya Ghoshal’s first film recording, too, was nothing short of crazy. She had no clue that her debut song (‘Bairi Piya’ in Devdas) was being recorded. “It was a blessing in disguise,” she recalls, “He (director Sanjay Leela Bhansali) had heard me on TV and some albums, and picked me to sing for his film. I was just testing out the microphone by singing the song, and it was recorded. That became the first and final take.”

Shreya Ghoshal has come a long way since. Two decades and five National Awards later, her chartbusters have gone on to rule the playlists of many listeners in India and abroad. At Chennai on March 1, she will present — as part of her current All Hearts Tour — some of those numbers.

The Bollywood hits will be there, surely, but Shreya will also explore some of her memorable Tamil tracks. “I have a special connection with Chennai; this concert will be an ode to the city and the many amazing musical collaborations I’ve had here.”

She is referring to her frequent songs with leading Tamil composers like Ilaiyaraaja, AR Rahman, Imman, Anirudh and GV Prakash, to name a few. “Ilaiyaaraja sir is one in a million, who can compose a beautiful song within 10 minutes. And AR Rahman... whatever he composes is divine. It’s like he has a direct WiFi connection with the Almighty.” She adds, “In the Tamil industry and the entire South industry, it’s not enough if a composer makes great songs. He is also working on the whole background score. That does not exist in Hindi now; an album sometimes has different composers and genres, so much that it becomes a mixed bag of singles. There was once a golden time of Hindi film music, but Tamil film music continues to have depth even today. They appreciate singers who are skilled, not just singers who vibe,” says Shreya, who is well known for Tamil tracks ‘Munbe Vaa’, ‘Unna Vida’ and ‘Kandaangi’, among others.

The language barrier

Shreya is as much loved in the South as in the North, because of her ability to almost sing like a native speaker. How did she manage to crack the language barrier and master difficult regional languages, despite being more comfortable in Bengali and Hindi? “Karthik Raja gave me my first break in Tamil (‘Chellame Chellam’ from 2002 film, Album). He prepared me for this journey. As there is so much richness and depth in the music and lyrics, I realised that it was important to express the words properly. If I didn’t do that, it would be great injustice to the makers of the song. I took it very seriously, and I’m fortunate that the teams I have worked with supported me. Delivering Malayalam songs is very tough. I have broken into sweat trying to sing them... but as time went, I got a hang of it.”