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PHOTO: K.V. SRINIVASAN

TUNE IN Shweta Mohan

She resembles her father and has the voice quality of her mother. Shweta Mohan, daughter of the acclaimed singer Sujatha Mohan may look like the quintessential girl next door but is quite a bundle of talent. At 22, she has had the opportunity to sing both in Tamil and Malayalam for music directors such as Ilaiyaraja, Vidyasagar, Deepak Dev, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Dharan, Mani Sharma and G.V. Prakash.

“I also did a chorus for Rahman sir for ‘Kuchi kuchi rakama’ in the movie ‘Bombay’ and that was my first recording,” she says with a coy smile.

Talking about how she started singing, Shweta says, “As a kid I wasn’t interested in singing and used to cry whenever my master came. My mother did not force me.” It was during the inter-school culturals that she developed a liking for music.

“I had won the prize for best singer at one such event where Bhavatharini was the judge. She later told my mother that she liked my voice and that I should be singing for films.”

That’s when Shweta got back to learning classical music and still continues to train under guru Binni Krishnakumar. Shwetha’s first solo performance was for Karthik Raja for the movie ‘3 Roses,’ where she sang Meyyanada and Sevai desam.

After that she sang a lot of jingles and tracks for playback singer Srinivas. And then after a hiatus of nearly three years came the big break when she sang for Deepak Dev’s ‘Lion.’

Offers poured in and there has been no looking back since. Today she has a lot of hits to her credit such as ‘Vizhivil’ (‘Kireedam’), ‘Yamuna Varathey’ (‘Ore Kadal’), ‘Manasukul’ (‘Anjaadhae’), ‘Neethana’ (‘Sadhu Miranda’).

She is also the recipient of the Film Critics Award for the songs ‘Kola Kuzhal’ and the Vanitha award for ‘Mandarapoomooli.’ A Commerce graduate from Stella Maris College, Chennai, Shweta is now pursuing her MBA through correspondence as she doesn’t want to compromise on her singing.

“Initially my family wanted me to join the corporate sector and back then my aim was to study well and go abroad. But heart of hearts I wanted to sing and whenever I accompanied amma to her recordings, I felt this is what I wanted to do,” she adds with a grin.

When asked about how things have changed since her singing career took off, the modest girl says, “It is the same except for the fact that I have had to give up on ice creams and my long conversations with friends over the phone, as they could affect my voice. And I miss them.”

PRIYADARSHINI PAITANDY

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