Telugu film Maharshi hit the theatres last Friday, but Chennai-based singer Vishnupriya Ravi cannot easily forget the film’s audio launch that happened a few weeks ago. “It was a massive event,” she recalls, “I got a chance to perform in front of a huge crowd, and the who’s who of the Telugu film industry were there. I could not meet the hero (Mahesh Babu), but he was sitting right there in the front row when I performed.”
The excitement is palpable in Vishnupriya’s voice as she talks about her experience in contributing to the Mahesh Babu-starrer. “DSP {Devi Sri Prasad} sir once called me for a recording — and I had no idea at that time that it was for a Mahesh Babu film.”
The recording went off well, so much that the composer also roped her in for another number in Chitralahari. “I’m happy that I got a big break, and am looking forward to singing more numbers in the future.”
Start the music
Her tryst with film music was by accident. Her father was getting his hair cut in a barber’s salon when he heard an announcement on radio that there was a singing contest. “He casually told me about it, and that was the time when I had finished college and was free,” she recalls.
On her father’s insistence, she enrolled for it and passed a couple of rounds. Vishnupriya did not win the contest, but she was in the final crop of contestants and managed to grab the attention of one of the guests in the show, composer Siddharth Vipin, who gave her a singing opportunity. Slowly, one song led to another, and Vishnupriya soon got offers to perform in live shows as well.
Her first big break was in a Telugu film titled Dhruva (the Telugu remake of Thani Oruvan ). In Tamil, she was heard in films like Ambala , Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru and Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuthu. Meanwhile, she was collaborating with her musician-friend Sudarshan Ashok on covers of popular Tamil songs.
“The challenge there is to bring my own perspective to the number,” says the singer, whose mash-up of Vijay songs and ‘Neeyum Naanum’ ( Naanum Rowdy Dhaan ) have done well online. It helped that celebrities associated with the original song, like Vignesh Shivn and Anirudh, spoke highly about her version.
Vishnupriya, who has been learning classical music from Ranjani and Western classical from Augustine Paul for about a decade now, says that she is comfortable with multiple genres. “But I prefer fast, peppy numbers because I feel it suits my voice,” says the singer, whose upcoming songs include a number in Hippi , composed by Balamurali Balu.
