Try to remember the kind of September…
Certainly Shweta Mohan is not going to forget this September. Seventeen years after she made her recording debut as a child for A. R. Rahman, many films and songs later, this gifted singer staged her first ‘live’ solo concert – a long cherished dream.
There were other reasons why this September would be special for Shweta. She was singing for and with Ilayaraja at a stage show in Bangalore, “along with a huge orchestra and other brilliant singers,” and has also recorded for the music maestro’s new Malayalam film Puthiya Theerangal .
Shweta enjoys these ‘live’ stage shows, like in the debut solo event, where she melded her favourite melodies, with some of her own songs and some foot-tapping numbers, all with a smile, an assuring confidence.
“I get butterflies in my stomach every time I step on stage. Getting there is always scary but once I begin, I still don’t know how that happens, I’m carried along by the music,” says Shweta.
There’s another reason why Shweta loves these shows. It gives her the chance to sing with a ‘live’ orchestra and there’s that freedom to improvise. “This is something me, and my generation of singers miss. Yes, it must have been tough for the singers, like my mother (Sujatha Mohan). They must have sung a song many times, along with the orchestra, till it was perfect to be recorded. That must have been a challenge, a great experience. Stage shows are some compensation.”
Challenges these days are of a different kind. There are plenty of very good singers in the line and the competition is cut-throat. “Moreover, there is always the pressure to create something new. The music director is looking for different voice textures; the singer is trying to give in something new. The demands keep changing.”
For someone who was never ‘trained’ to be a professional singer, Shweta has certainly come a long way. Though there was music always at home Shweta never remembers having demonstrated her singing skills here. “I was a sort of introvert those days. Not the person you see today. Things changed when I got into Plus One and later when I was made school captain. I began to take part in the cultural shows.”
At one such inter-school competition Shweta won the best singer prize. Among the judges was Bhavatharani. That was first recognition for her singing skills. Slowly, Shweta began to think seriously about music.
After graduation Shweta’s parents wanted her to do MBA. She began preparing for her CAT exams. “That was the time, that one year, when I really told my parents that I would like to try a career in music.” Sujatha did not think seriously about this. “She tried to dissuade me for she knew the industry so well, the competition, and its ways. She also did not want me to make all those sacrifices; she wanted me to enjoy life.”
One promise that Sujatha made was to help Shweta make her demo- cassettes. “Other than that she told me clearly that she would not make any recommendation. I sent these demos to a few music directors. Meanwhile on a visit to Illayaraja Sir’s house during Navarathri, Karthik Raja, who was looking for new voices, asked me if I could sing. That’s how my first film came about.”
The Tamil film 3 Roses did not do too well and Shweta went unnoticed. Nearly three years later Deepak Dev gave her first Malayalam song, Sundari onnu parayu… in the film Lion . Shweta has comes a long way since then. She has sung in all South Indian language films and in two Hindi films too. “I will not take any credit for the Hindi songs where I was just another voice. Unfortunately, many of the songs, ones with identity that I recorded in Hindi were changed at the last moment due to various reasons.”
After marriage there were many in the industry who thought that Shweta had moved to the U.S. “I’m right here. Ashwin has shifted his business to Chennai, for my sake,” she says not hiding a giggle.
