‘I considered these voices normal’

Neha Bhasin on working with Devi Sri Prasad yet again, this time for ‘Jai Lava Kusa’

Neha Bhasin first sang in Telugu when composer Devi Sri Prasad asked her to sing the now famous ‘Atu Nuvve Itu Nuvve’ for the film Current (2009). The film wasn’t a great hit at the box office but the song lives on. Neha has a voice that’s distinct and made the song stand out from the clutter. Now and then she returned to sing for Telugu films and quite a few of them have been chartbusters — ‘Niharika’ ( Oosaravelli ), ‘Hello Hello’ ( Dhada ), ‘Aww tuzo mogh kortha’ ( 1-Nenokkadine ) and ‘Apple Beauty’ ( Janata Garage ), all composed by Devi Sri Prasad.

Recently, Neha recorded a song for Jai Lava Kusa . “It’s different from what I’ve done before in Telugu. Devi (Sri Prasad) always comes up with something crazy and unpredictable in his compositions and it’s been fun singing for his tunes. For instance when I sang ‘Aww tuzo mogh kortha’ he told me to sing like a drunk girl and I did it the way I could interpret it,” she says.

The new song, ‘Swing Zara’ features Tamannaah Bhatia, and Neha calls it a dance number. “In Hindi, many of my songs have been love ballads but here I get to do these fun dance numbers. Devi asked me to sing like a ‘sexy, rowdy girl’,” she recalls.

Neha didn’t understand Telugu while singing ‘Atu nuvve’ and little has changed since. “I haven’t sung that many numbers to get a grasp of the language. Maybe more people need to call me to sing,” she laughs.

Neha’s voice fell into the ‘unconventional’ category when she started off, shooting into limelight as part of the girl band Viva before she carved out her own identity. “I grew up listening to western music and even back then, when Usha Uthup or Bombay Jayashree ( Zara Zara had become a rage) were called unconventional, I considered these voices normal. But Indian cinema, irrespective of the industry, was still getting acclimatised to these voices. In a sea of high key voices, people like me were considered misfits who could just do one-odd song,” she laughs.

A lot has changed since then with mainstream cinema opening up to new composers, genres and voices, she points out. Each time she has a big hit, like the female version of ‘Jag ghoomeya’ (

Sultan ), she says people are convinced she isn’t a passing trend and is here to stay. “When I was growing up listening to pop, pop-rock, dance, jazz and R&B, I never thought I would be one day singing in Hindi or Punjabi. I thought I’d be singing in English,” she says.

Post Viva, she trained in Hindi and got more acquainted with Indian music. Neha has a YouTube channel in which she gives a fusion twist to Punjabi folk music. “I approach folk music with a western touch. Alongside films, it’s fun to be able to do these singles now and then,” she says, before heading back to a rehearsal.