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Soaring notes
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Shweta Shetty is back after jamming with western artistes and a one-year world tour
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LOOKING FOR CHALLENGES Shweta Shetty wants to make her own music Photo: MURALI KUMAR K.
Sometimes it takes time to go international. Eight years after Shweta Shetty gained prime position on Indian pop charts with hits such as Johnny Johnny Joker and Sajna, opera diva Sarah Brightman came to Mumbai looking for her. Shweta's demo tape had been heard, and loved, and Brightman, best known for her music in her former husband Andrew Llyod Weber's Phantom of the Opera, zeroed in on the Indian with the powerful voice to accompany her own strong vocals.
Shweta sang two songs for Brightman — Arabian Nights and Journey Home — and was soon catapulted into the rigours of a world tour for the album Harem. On the road for one year, often some 14 hours a day, Shweta's now performed at venues she only dreamt about before: Madison Square, the Staple Centre where the Grammy's are awarded and other choice venues across the world.
Following an album with Jams and Spoons, Shweta's now working on a German collaboration with Sony BMG. International exposure is coming her way, but Shweta's nonchalant about it: "I'm not enamoured by these international collaborations," she says. "It's not like people are rushing to me just because I've worked with Sarah Brightman."
Strangely, returning to India has been challenging. "I have to be careful now," she admits candidly. "I can't do Bollywood lyrics anymore. Maybe I'm not good enough for India...?!" And she rushes to clarify that it's not the other way around. "I'm proud to go and sing in a sari," she says.
"I'm happy promoting Indian music abroad. But they just won't accept Indians singing in English and why compete with something that will never happen? They won't accept Indians that way. Period."
Attitude of the West
There's a tinge of frustration in her voice as she continues: "I asked my producer if I could do English lyrics and he just said `No'. They have to learn that we can speak and sing perfect English."
Infused with western influences, Shweta returned to India to try to blend opera with Bollywood tunes, but the project fizzled out and she bemoans the "stereotypes and brackets over here".
She prefers the Western practice of giving singers their due and allowing flexibility. "They let me do what I like," she says. "I'm just given a basic guideline and I give them styles — classical, pop, bhangra, etc. They let you work with the music and experiment; it's like meeting a guy... you need some time to get to know him. I have all these different influences from my 15 years in music with people like Anand Raj Anand and Rahman, and it helps when I'm with other people."
Her voice is certainly distinctive, but her style is a mix. "I've always imitated singers, whether Mariah Carey or Asha Bhonsle," she says. "So you decide what it is." And after the Sony release in August, Shweta intends sitting back and taking stock after her one year on tour: look for a new apartment, have a child, travel, meditate and cook. And of course, make her own music: writing, singing and perhaps even producing.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
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