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| Rajiv Vijayakar After all, as this Indore-born talent puts it,"I have to achieve my father's dream!" She is just back from the 'awesome' experience of singing at an Indo-Pak harmony concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London along with Sonu Nigam, Abida Parveen and Fuzon. Meenal says, "I sang 'Lambi judaai...' from Hero, but even when I entered the stage the crowds were cheering 'Meenal, we love you!' It was a fantastic experience!" Screen meets up the charming singer for an illuminating chat. Excerpts. You were mentioned on the Indian Idol show as Meenal Jain from Mumbai. But aren't you from Indore? Yes, I do belong to Indore, but I am in Mumbai for the last ten years, in fact, it was on my 10th birthday on June 14, 1996 that we landed here so that I could pursue learning music. So your parents were not opposed to your career in music. On the contrary, it is my father's dream that I became a great singer. He is not a musician but has a great ear for music. He sensed my flair for music when I was six and my sister was learning the parat dance. She was dancing to the song 'Piya tose naina laage re...' and I was completely overwhelmed by the song and quietly learnt it. One day I made him listen, and his casual indulgence at hearing his daughter sing turned to admiration. My father then tried for four years to get me trained in Indore but the general attitude there was that a kid of my age was too young to train. So we shifted to Mumbai, with my mom staying with me, because Dad has his business in Indore. Ironically, the teachers whom we approached here asked my parents why they had not started training me much earlier! So where did you learn music? I joined a well-known institute but could not adjust to the atmosphere there. Then a friend of my father's friend (!) introduced us to his neighbours, Shri Manohar Rai and his wife Krishna Kalle-Rai, who is a well-known senior singer. And I owe most of my expertise to them and their dedication. I have become like the pampered daughter of their family and to me they are like my second parents. They first taught me how to be a good human being, and how to ensure that I radiated good culture and upbringing.I began with light vocals, gradually moving to heavier classical music. They also trained me at that delicate stage when my voice changed to an adult tenor. Were they your only teachers in music? I also learnt under Bhavdeep Jaipurwale-ji and I still occasionally go to Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan-saab. I also learned for 18 months with Gautam (Mukherjee)-ji, jinhonein mera galaa taiyyar kiya, while Kuldip (Singh)-ji is teaching me the intricacies of playback singing. With this solid foundation, why did you not try for work directly? I did work before I entered the Indian Idol contest. I began working as a chorus singer for Ravindra Jain-ji in his devotional albums and later graduated to solo lines. I sang 'Dil to hai bezubaan...' under Daniel B. George in the 2005 Sahara One Motion Pictures' film Sehar. The song was in the album but its Adnan Sami version was used in the film. Before that, I was called by my neighbour Sneha Khanwilkar to sing for the title-song of last year's release Kal. I never knew that she was a music director, because I knew her as an excellent artist. It was interesting that Sneha, my lyricist Swanand Kirkire and I were all from Indore!
I have recorded the title-song of Ram Gopal Varma's Go in all three languages in which it is being made - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. I have done some promos composed by Daniel for the Sahara Network. I have gone for shows with Sonu Nigam-ji who has been very helpful and appreciative. Karunya, who emerged as the first runner-up, and you are very close friends. Yes. He even calls me 'Meenal amma' because I am always giving him advice! Like I saw which way the trends were going and mentally prepared him to lose the finals despite his brilliance as a singer. I have personally always been a chilled-out, calm and positive person who believes that everything happens for the best. On the show, Monali, Karunya and I had a special bond, so when Monali went out, Karunya and I become inseparable. Basically we all had the same fetish for always discussing music, and ways of experimenting and trying to meet vocal challenges. Even our small talk would be only about music. You have a very fresh voice with a folkish element, yet it can easily be moulded into a Western kind of tenor. I am very lucky. I think that with my kind of vocal throw I will be more suited to the Asha Bhosle-Sunidhi Chauhan mould, and that is why though some of my biggest favourites are Lata-ji's songs, I do feel a bit scared to attempt them! What is the secret behind your casual effortlessness at any kind of song and your preference for a higher calibre of music that was so obvious from your choice of songs? I think that the effortlessness comes from the fact that I treat every song I attempt as my own. I even added my own harkatein to 'Lambi judaai...' on Indian Idol and in London. I cannot stress myself while singing any song, which is again because I am a cool person! As for a taste for a better calibre of music than many of my contestants, I think that to a good extent that it is inborn, and besides I have always exposed myself to the best of every kind of music.
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