Do you like to take a stroll at the airport once you land? Enjoy the breeze and then head towards the city? That is exactly what Bollywood singer Neeti Mohan does. “Bangalore is amazing, the weather is too good for words. I come here for concerts and it is refreshing to be here each time,” starts the singer.
She has sung popular songs like ‘Ishq Wala Love’ for Student of the Year and ‘Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari’ in Chennai Express to name a few. She has also sung a song with Raghu Dixit which is not yet out. “I feel Raghu is the brand ambassador of Kannada music. He does his own songs and I love listening to it and find it inspiring.”
Coming from a family that is not musically inclined, yet establishing herself in the entertainment field was challenging, she says. As a child she loved dancing and singing with her sisters and would do so at home to entertain guests. A hobby that shaped into a career when a reality show on Channel V popped up. Her sisters were convinced that she would not only get selected for it but also make it big. “I thought if I tell my parents about my career choice they would laugh at me. I always wanted to be an artiste though I had no knowledge of how this industry works. I was not confident initially but felt better when I saw other singers perform at the reality show and realised I might make it. I felt I could deliver what they were looking for,” beams the singer.
She struck gold when she met AR Rahman and auditioned for his live concerts. Having sung “Jiya re Jiya” from Jab Tak Hai Jaan for him she says was a dream come true. “Rahman sir is a legend. Since the time I heard Roja I was taken in by his music and wanted to be a part of good music. He has inspired me in various ways both knowingly and unknowingly,” explains Neeti.
Different people have different ways of de-stressing themselves but Neeti considers spending time with friends as “therapeutic” and goes on to say “We are a group of five and we meet up regularly. We recently met up in Goa and spent couple of days together. It was a mini reunion and fun.”
She holds her friends close to her heart and recalls a hilarious incident from her boarding school days saying, “I would wrap a white bed sheet around me, cover my face with my hair and walk slowly in the corridors like a zombie. Other times I would paint a girl’s face with toothpaste and black shoe polish and scare the girls at night.”
Going down her memory lane, thinking of her favourite cold coffee and the two-minute Maggie during her school days is something that Neeti still cherishes.
