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Going Jazzy!
GOT THE LOOKS Sunali Rathore
Long tresses, silk saris, arm in arm with the husband, she epitomised the common man's version of femininity. That was Sunali Rathore, famous partly for her looks and partly for being the wife of Roop Kumar Rathore, the ghazal singer. That she sang ghazals was just an add-on.
No longer though. The lady has undergone a makeover - not only the looks but the music as well. Gone are the saris, long tresses and ghazals, incomes a hep and happening Sunali who is inspired by jazz and croons pop. Her album "This Is Me" has hit the stands and the music video of "Ooh Ooh Aah Aah" is being appreciated.
"Outside the public life, I was always like this. I used to dress up in jeans and tops but Roop always maintained that I should sport a serious and consistent look for stage shows. I used to hate it, but male chauvinism you know," she smiles. Trained under Hridaynath Mangeshkar and Ustad Fayyaz Ahmad, she says she always liked jazz and loves the work of the likes of Ray Charles but once she started with a ghazal album "Aaghaz" in the late `80s, she was stamped as a ghazal singer.
`Jazz-based'
"It was before marriage. Then Roop and my stage shows became popular the world over. For long, I wanted to take a break and try something different. I went to London for holidays and decided to do a jazz-based album. I contacted Leslie Lewis and one thing led to another. It's not pure jazz but a mixture of different genres."
She adds that Roop - who has turned a music director with films like Woh Tera Naam Tha and Madhoshi - being busy with his film projects also helped her cause. So how did Roop react to her makeover? "Well, he says he has fallen in love all over again."
Sunali disagrees that she has taken the step too late in the day. "Unlike the West, we hardly have singers who can perform and sing at the same time. When you think of a singer performing images of a singer holding a mike with a dozen dancers dancing around come to mind. I believe I can fill the gap."
That's why the emphasis is on the video, shot by Kiran Deohans, who shot films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. "It took us two months to get the desired look."
A close relative of danseuse Sonal Mansingh and Nandita Das, Sunali says she is not a trained dancer but can move with the beat. "It is in the blood. My mother Lina Jhaveri was also a classical dancer."
She doesn't mind going back to ghazal days, but for now she is concentrating on the video of the song "Kahin Bhi Lage Na Ye Jiya Jale".
ANUJ KUMAR
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