It's summertime and that to me is a time for music, patios and late evenings without a jacket (and for that, I'm thankful!). But along with music blaring from the radio and the popular iPod, we have plenty of live music, thanks to several talented musicians visiting Toronto this summer. This weekend Caribana showcased Reggae-Dancehall's wickedly talented Sean Paul and R' n B award-winning artist Ne-yo, apart from Soca performer, Destra. Earlier in July, we had The Police visit the Air Canada Centre for their Reunion Tour. Music is definitely in the air this summer...
The "Festival of India" concert later this month will give a desi flavour to August, boasting of performances by legendary names like Zakir Hussain, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, amongst others. Giving this concert a dash of Bollywood glamour is Sunidhi Chauhan, one of my favourite singers. Sunidhi presents an interesting combination of youth, spunk and confidence. I am personally very fond of her voice since it's so atypical of conventional playback voices of Hindi cinema. Talking about her distinct voice at an interview with me earlier this year, she shared, "I am so happy that I have a voice that is unique. If I was to be born again, I'd want the same voice because not many female singers have this kind of power. Shubha Mudgal, Usha Uthup - these fantastic women have power. I am proud to be part of that group."
At 23 years of age, she has several accomplishments to her credit. For example, she represented India at the Asian Games in Doha last year. Check out the video below of her performance at the ceremony singing the song "Reach out." Apart from this, she was part of a large Asian contingent comprising other performers like Sonu Nigam, Priyanka Chopra, Shiamak Davar at the Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne last year.
Despite these achievements in her relatively short life, she is more known for her rabble-rousing blockbuster tracks. Whether it's the thumping Ruki Ruki from the Ram Gopal Varma film Mast, or the booming Deedar de from Dus, Sunidhi gets my vote all the way. You can listen to her singing Crazy Kiya re from the movie Dhoom 2 below... Just so there's added bonus to check the video, the song features Aishwarya Rai!
Moving past a controversial marriage and divorce, she continues to maintain a low profile in the media and believes in her work speaking out for itself. On a parting note, she mentioned that "nothing compares to the feeling of being on-stage." Amen to that, I certainly will be keeping an eye out on this talented lady in the years to come. In the meanwhile, LISTEN UP to Sunidhi in Toronto!
hey, this is a cool blog. I went to the ravi Shankar concert once and fell asleep but my parents were like all wah-wah over it. Generation gap i think - lolz
Posted by: Jeevika | August 09, 2007 at 01:14 PM
Hey Jeevika,
I'm glad you liked the blog. I'm always open to feedback so if there's any artist you'd like to profile or find interesting, drop me a note!
As to the generation gap, I heard Ravi Shankar's daughter Anoushka Shankar recently and she blew me away. I look forward to hearing Norah Jones at some point. Somehow it's easier to relate to them...
Posted by: Savia | August 13, 2007 at 11:51 AM