Raageshwari

She's bubbly. She's effervescent. She sparkles. Hey! She's like champagne. So are you ready for a heady feeling? Coz here is Raageshwari. Actress. Veejay. Singer.

By Shibani Phukan

Have you been named after a raga?
Yes. That's right. It is called Raageshwari-the queen of ragas. That's quite funny because I am a Punjabi and the name is very South Indian. So everybody who meets me goes, 'Really, you are a Punjabi!' When my mom was expecting me, she was sure that it was a girl because after Rishabh, she wanted a girl for the family to be complete. My father had already decided on my name and my mom couldn't do a thing about it. Personally, I didn't quite like the name but once my dad told me the other names he had in mind, like Jaijaivanti, I was like, thank god...

Tell us about yourself.
I have always been in Mumbai, was born and brought up in Mumbai, went to an all-girls convent school. After that I couldn't go to college because I started working in movies. My parents were working very hard, they probably didn't give us the best of toys or the best of clothes, but they gave us lots of love and the best of education. That's what matters to any little child. If every parent brings up his or her child believing that, we would not be having so many criminals, people going into drugs, or probably losing their virtues, morals values... I think it is the family atmosphere which helps you become the person that you ultimately do.

Any memories of childhood you care to share...
I was quite a brat when I was small. My brother, jab bahar jate the, used to take me out on a leash, jaise doggie ko leke jate hai. That's because I kept getting lost. Every day there would be a constable, he would catch me by my arm, bring me home and say, 'Dekhiye, aapki daughter wapas gum ho gaye thi'. So it was like a big joke that Raageshwari has got lost, again!

What do your parents do?
My mother was working in a private office, my father was in a government job.

So how did music happen?
Very few people know that my dad won a national award in 1972. It has been difficult for him to get a break. It's so time consuming to run after people, and it is not so easy. Having a government job, a family to support, did not give him that kind of time to devote to music. But he kept composing music at home, he truly loves music-he kept evolving as a musician. Then one day I heard "Duniya". I loved it. It just made me so happy. I told him that I want to sing it. And my dad said that if you really work hard, you can sing it. I had been singing at school but I was not too confident about getting into it professionally. It's a very difficult art form. So four to five months before the actual recording of the album, I used to rehearse all the songs that I was to sing, every day. That's how the album began.

We went to almost all the music companies but none of them believed that "Duniya" would do well. It always happens. In the beginning they are always negative, that's always better. I remember when "Duniya" was released, I used to ask everybody, how is the song doing, and they would say, 'okay'. But people grew to like the song. So one must have that confidence. Today I am equally tense about "Pyaar Ka Rang". People have said that this is such a fast song, that was such a slow song. So I hope the album does well. There are so many expectations, and I get all the more scared when they say that this is your acid test. I've tried my best.

Did you receive any training?
Singing is a gift. Either you can sing or you can't. But if you can, you can definitely hone it. And that honing was required, it is still going on. I am not so serious to be constantly at it, to have a guru wherever I go. But I am a lot more serious today than I was for Duniya.

Didn't your father's struggle discourage you from entering this field?
There were a lot of people who listened to Duniya and liked it. Our intention was to get the music out. It's an open secret that the country's run by mediocre people. The topnotch producers, the ones who make the decisions, are really funny people. The ones who are working under them have the real ideas and probably know a lot more about music. So why bother about all those funny people? If you have faith in your product, you should do everything you can to bring it to the people.

Your parents have been very supportive...
Yeah, very. They have been supportive about everything in life. They have a lot of confidence about our upbringing and they know we wouldn't do something wrong.

Yours was almost a dream debut. What contributed to your success?
It seems like a dream debut but so much hard work had gone into it. And when Duniya was released people only spoke badly about it. So I was very nervous and that itself would take away my energy and my peace of mind. So finally when it did well, it made us so happy.

Tell us about this new album-Pyaar Ka Rang.
I won't say that it is drastically different from Duniya because we have kept it along the same lines. Simple melody, simple music but at the same time, something happy to go with it. You see, "Duniya" had nothing spectacular about it, it was just a simple song telling you that the world is such a beautiful place to be in, if you are alone you need not worry, all you need to survive in this world is dreams. Even "Pyaar Ka Rang" is a very simple song talking about is hath le, is dede, yehi pyaar ka hai dastoor, which is so true. Whether you want a romantic, an emotional or a professional relationship to be successful, you have to believe in that philosophy. You cannot always expect something if you have given nothing in return. The scene before the song starts, talks about what love was then. Why don't we have Heer Ranja, Romeo and Juliet now? Those days people had a lot of time to commit to love. They were much more sensitive.

Do you see any growth in yourself since Duniya?
I wouldn't like to say that this album is better than Duniya... the obvious growth that I see is that I sound a little better, a little more confident and it was also easier singing for this album. Lyrically, musically, it is for the people to recognize if there has been any growth.

Your style is very simple, not at all trendy...
I feel in life today, whether it's men, food, or clothes, it is so easy to see funky, elaborate colourful things, everything is very stylish. But if you want a simple white salwar kameez, you'll never get it, you want a simple man in your life, you'll never get it, you want ghar ka khana, you'll never get it. Human beings are always looking for it. I prefer simple soulful music which makes people happy at the end of three minutes. Life is so complicated that anything simple is welcome.

It is not that if the melody is good, they let it be, they are like is mein bongo bhi dalenge, techno bhi dalenge, tabla bhi dalenge...

And something will click!
(Bursts out laughing) That's so true. And they seem so convinced because they believe in it.

Don't you think using an Indian theme for "Pyaar Ka Rang" would have vibed better with your audience?
I would have loved to do that but Rishabh, being the director, was like, 'Shut up!'. Everybody has heard of Romeo and Juliet, Laila Majnu... Aida was a dancer, Ramas a Senapati and they fell in love. It's a beautiful story. Also Egyptian culture is very much like ours.

This 'all in the family' business, doesn't it make you less professional towards your work?
See it depends. As individuals, Dad and I are strict disciplinarians... Well, let me give you a simple example. Suppose I have to wake up at 6, I'll probably put the alarm for 5.45. Even if Dad doesn't ask me, I'll never give a bad take. If I think that I can sing a little better, I'll say that pack up today but I'll come back tomorrow and do it. And I'm treated no differently from anybody else. Also we work together, so we benefit from it. But it can work against us too. People think that because we work together, we won't work with anybody else, that's not true.

Song apart, everybody loves the kurta you are wearing in the video.
Really! My brother was walking down Crawford market and he spotted this dupatta (he has a beautiful eye for detail) and he was like, 'Iska kurta banaunga'. I wanted to wear this denim shirt buttoned up to my throat and when I saw the kurta I was like, 'yeh kya hai, ekdum jhalli lagungi'.

What eggs you on to bring out an album?
I think the need for a little more recognition, to put it very crudely. I love to go and hear people sing the songs I've sung. When parents bring their little kids for the show, I love it because it probably means that they respect you a little more to come with their whole family.

What makes for a good album?
First and foremost, the music. It has to complement the artiste. Because even if you are an average singer, which I think I am, there are a lot of songs you can't sing. A song can make or break an artiste. But most artistes concentrate on everything else but the music. The video must be good but the artiste has to do justice to the song, sing it with some conviction. You also need a good music company that can market the product.

I'll tell you something very interesting about the Hindi film music world. An artiste who is doing very well is signed on because the price may increase after a year. Then they make the artiste record 50 songs. Then a producer who makes assembly line productions, picks up say five songs, number 22, 23, 24... for each film. The situations are more or less the same, so there's no problem.

You're a jack of all trades. How do you manage to do it?
People think that I must be working like a dog, it's nothing like that. I have a very planned schedule, I don't have a secretary, so life is easier. Since they want to make money, they won't even tell you what kind of things you are signing in for. And I only take on as much work as I can handle.

Why did you shift from [V] to MTV?

I never connected to [V] as a channel. I was never dealing with them, I was just dealing with Sunil Sajwani who was the producer and director. I used to go to his office and meet his people. Throughout my time with Oye, I never went to the Channel V office. So once Sajwani was out, there was no way I could have continued. Still I waited for them to call me, nobody did and that's when I met the MTV people.

What's closest to your heart?
I see myself as a performer. It is very difficult to do any of this without being a little bit of an actress. Acting is very close to my heart but the profession didn't treat me right, so it was like a message from God that singing and veejaying is my forte.

Is popularity very important for you?

It is, because if you are not reaching out to people, what are you working for. I wish I were a producer who had the money to constantly keep promoting what I believe in, but now to put across what I believe in, I still need a person and if I'm not popular, no-one would back me.

A lot of hearts would be broken if you say yes to this one, but is there someone special in your life?
No, there isn't. Because in my kind of profession I come across very few simple men. With my first relationship, I was all set to settle down and it was so shocking to get to know the things that I did. It took me a long time to move on but I have learnt a lot. But I'm a very positive person (why do you think I released a love album?!). I know that because of this one relationship I should not let whoever comes into my life suffer.

You're the role model for a lot of youngsters. For someone so young, does it make you uneasy?

I never see myself as a celebrity. I know I'm a popular face but that's different. The day I see myself as one, I'll stop being myself. I love being myself, I have four to five denims and I live in them. Once I'm 30, I would be married with kids, I won't be a celebrity and I will be coming back to true living, so might as well do that now.

What your definition of success?
A state of mind. Being happy.

A message for your fans?
You must follow what Pyaar Ka Rang is saying-is hath le, is dede, yehi pyaar ka hai dastoor.

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