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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Roshini: looking forward to melodies

S. Aishwarya

Lady Luck smiled on her when she was singing at an annual day function

Photo: R. Ashok

RIGHT TRACK: Playback singer Roshini. —

TIRUCHI: For any singer aspiring to gain a foothold in the film industry, knocking the doors of music companies with demo CDs, singing chorus numbers and endless waits to meet music directors are the usual way of packaging and marketing oneself.

But none of these were on the schedule sheet of J.K.V. Roshini when she hoped for a career in music. And yet, the young singer managed to earn a label as one of the frequently recorded singers in the industry.

Like any Carnatic music learning kid, Roshini, in her class III, flaunted her open and hi-ranged voice through the krithi ‘Manasa Sancharare’ during the annual day. And that’s when Lady Luck smiled on her. Music director Vidyasagar, the chief guest of the day, booked her for a song in the movie ‘Aaha Enna Porutham.’

Music directors found her voice suitable for child artistes which helped her . After a song in Packiaraj-starrer ‘Vaetiya Madichu Kattu,’ she wanted to put her formal training in Carnatic music to some use and began accepting a great deal of offers to sing for devotional albums.

“I didn’t feel left-out when I turned to albums. I just wanted to do more singing and the platform is immaterial,” she said while in the town to perform a light music concert.

When the film offers became too tempting, the Tiruchi-girl decided to shift her base to Chennai.

The arc of Roshini’s career had its major twist when music director Srikanth Deva singled out the distinctive voice of the third-year-engineering student performing at a talent show. The song ‘Potu Thaaku’ from ’Kutthu’ was what he had to offer which, she felt, played a key role in helping her emerge as a good singer of fast numbers.

She soon found herself competing with celebrity singers. Just as the popularity of ‘Potu Thaaku’ began to fade, she gave yet another hit of the year through ‘Karuppana Kaiyale’ from ‘Tamirabarani.’

“It’s still a surprise to me. The song took off so well that all of a sudden, there were offers like never before and I was invited to perform at, invariably, all TV and stage shows."

Her fan base widened with the consecutive smash hit of the year ‘Nellayila Mannedutha’ from ‘Machakaran’ in Yuvan Shankar Raja’s symphony. The string of successes built her confidence, so much so that she took the disappointing response for a song from ‘Periyar’ in stride.

“It might be an outright flop. But the song gave me a dream-come-true opportunity to share the soundtrack with Ilayaraja. Though I could not meet him during the recording, I was happy to hear that he wished to retain my voice in the song. That’s the biggest-ever compliment in my life.”

“Namma Kattula’ from ‘Pattiyal’ in Yuvan Shankar Raja’s composition and Bharadwaj’s ‘Halwa Ponnu’ from ‘Jambavan’ made racy numbers her signature.

Her grace and chirpy talk made for a powerful stage presence, as a host of TV anchor roles began coming in. “I’ve jumped into stage show opportunities right from my school days. I never felt out of place on stage. But as it is, I focus more on my singing career and look forward for songs with melodic choruses. I wish I get to sing to some of the most wowed songs of every big release,” she says, flashing her crossed fingers.

And even if none of her dreams work out, she still will have a career to turn to and perhaps, earn more. Even as she religiously accepts the offers knocking her door, Roshini is all set to face the interviews of software multinationals slated at her college.

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