Dressed in smart casuals that blend well with a cup of coffee, Deepika Varadharaajhan looks more like an anchor for a television show. But in a few minutes, you realise that's not all. Singer, dubbing artist, actor, model and engineer — this 23-year-old dons many roles with ease.
She bagged the Yuva Kala Bharathi award last month and now awaits the Isai Chudar award from Karthik Fine Arts. “I've been learning from Sudha Raghunathan since 1997 and have been singing since I was three. My mother is a singer and when she practised at home, I would try to follow and sing like her. She taught me for a few years and then I took lessons from Vittal Ramamurthy and O.S. Thyagarajan.”
Carnatic and film music
Apart from being a Carnatic singer, Deepika, who is now busy with the December music season, has sung for films in six languages. She was also selected for an Arts Exchange Programme on Music Composition and Performance by the U.S. Government. “I've been singing in the December season for the last five years and am active this year too. As for singing in films, when I was around five, I would accompany my mother to the recording studios where I met Selvakumar of Audio Media. He made me sing and recorded a song. When an offer of a role for a child who could sing and act came up, he referred my name and later that person referred me to K. Balachander and I landed a small role in ‘Amma'.”
She has also acted in “Kayalavu Manasu” and “Kadhal Vaangi Vandhen”, dubbed for “Avvai Shanmugi”, “Soorya Vamsam” and “Ennavale”, and modelled for advertisements such as “Sakthi Masala”, “Dukes Biscuits” and “Karur Vysya Bank”. “Everything I do is different; dubbing is where you memorise dialogues and make sure the timing between the lip sync and your voice is perfect. Classical music is a continuous learning process while playback singing demands giving your best immediately, every single time. I haven't pursued acting much, except for those occasional modelling projects. But I guess singing will always be my top priority.”
Music, acting and films… Deepika isn't just a performing artist, she is also a techie. “I like music and technology. I try to balance both worlds; I learnt to play the piano and hope to perform (sing and play) someday. Besides I want to do research on cognitive radio. Otherwise, I just want to be a good human being.”
