Shraddha Kapoor talks about her love for singing
Tushar Joshi (DNA; March 28, 2016)


Talking about the song she says, “We recorded Sab Tera in a couple of hours. For me it is very important that I am satisfied with the end result, so if that means taking some more time then it’s fine.” The actress says that her biggest critic back home is her father Shakti Kapoor. “Even though my relatives from mom’s side have been into music, my true critic is my father. While I get feedback from my entire family, it is my father who is my most honest critic.”

A lot of singers have certain rituals before entering the singing booth. Some of them go on vocal rest for a day others like to drink some sort of tea, does she have any such practice? “There is no ritual as such but all I do is try to avoid having anything too cold a couple of days before recording.”

On the international scene, Shraddha can’t stop obsessing over Beyonce. “She is my number one idol. I am totally in love with her vocals. She has a strong unique voice which is flawless. Beyonce is just phenomenally talented!”

DNA (January 22, 2015)

2014 has been an amazing year for this Bolly actress. From her films to her songs, everything has brought Shraddha Kapoor a lot of appreciation. Her Galliyan Unplugged version was one of the most loved romantic rumbers last year. Now we hear, Shraddha will be singing again, but this time it’s not for a film! Belonging to a legion of singers, Shraddha has always been a part of Saraswati puja at home but this year, she wants to do it differently! Shraddha’s grandfather is a classical singer and she has been inquiring about the rituals involved in the puja from everyone. Shraddha will also be crooning some of the bhajans and is making sure that everything goes absolutely perfect.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; October 13, 2014)

Three hits in a row and Shraddha Kapoor’s uncannily played the same part: A determinedly happy girl confronted by a dysfunctional/psychologically traumatised man, grappling with his demons.
Aashiqui 2: She plays a singer in love with a self-destructive alcoholic singer who finally kills himself.
Ek Villain: The man she falls for is a sinister criminal with an extremely violent past.
Haider: In love with an inherently complex, rapidly self-disintegrating Shakespearean hero.
Her reaction: I am deeply aware that the heroes in all my three films are troubled self-destructive souls. It’s not as though I consciously choose films where I have to romance dark strangers — give or take the ‘tall’ and ‘handsome’. But I play positive characters in all three films.

THE LETTER ‘A’
One thing to bind the three roles: Her character’s names all start with the letter ‘A’
Aashiqui 2: As Aarohi, she’s a no-nonsense girl. Except when she falls in love.
Ek Villain: She plays the effervescent Aisha here.
Haider: In Haider, she’s the sentimental Arshiya.
Her reaction: It’s not just troubled men my characters are affiliated to!

MUSIC
All three roles have a musical connection.
Aashiqui 2: She plays a singer, but hasn’t sung any song in this film.
Ek Villain: She sings the unplugged version of Galliyan with Ankit Tiwari.
Haider: She sings Do Jahaan with Suresh Wadkar.
Her reaction: I am related to the Goddess of Melody Lata Mangeshkar. So music and singing are in my genes.

Upala KBR (DNA; July 14, 2014)


EV is your first `100-crore film. Did you ever think it would cross that milestone?
I was hoping it would, considering the way people reacted to the promos. People were saying, “Yaar, yeh toh Rs 100 cr karegi”. When you hear so much of that around you, your expectations rise too. Also, frankly, I had a strong feeling, based on the script, that the movie would do well. I want to add that I keep telling myself never to have high expectations, in my films and in life in general. I hope for the best and let it be.

Actresses like Parineeti Chopra don’t have a 100-crore film yet.
Woo hoo! Sorry! But I am so excited and really happy that I have got a Rs 100-crore film! A couple of years ago, when I was starting Aashiqui 2, my way of thinking was very different compared to what it is now. Then it was like, ‘I hope I get a film’. I was dying for an opportunity to work in a good film. Now I just want to work hard with every opportunity.

When did you hear that your film had hit the sau-crore mark?
I heard it first from my beloved father (Shakti Kapoor). He is so proud of my success! In fact, baaps (as she affectionately calls her father) is the one who’s constantly looking out for me. I had told him to let me know when EV would cross the Rs 100-crore mark. He would keep track of the business figures. I was busy with rehearsals for ABCD 2. It was great to get to hear it from him first. We were both working out in the gym so we shared the news with a nice, sweaty hug.

Ek Villain is your second hit film with Mohit Suri. Is he lucky for you?
I love him so much. I owe Mohit everything — I owe him every tiny bit of my success. A director has to have an insane amount of confidence in what he’s doing. Only a handful can carry out their vision. Mohit has all of that and more. I have been cast, re-cast and not been a part of a film due to various reasons. But once Mohit decides on something, he stands by it. He is a one-in-a-million kind of a guy.

You come from a musically-inclined family...
My mom is a brilliant singer. She sounds like a younger version of Lataji (who is also our grand maushi). Recently, Meena atya called up my mom to say that Lataji really liked my song (Galliyan). And to think it happened so suddenly!

First EV and now, Haider. How did you get picked to sing?
Though I haven’t trained as a singer, I have harboured the dream from a young age of being able to sing in one of my films. I am happy that Mohit listened to my request during Aashiqui 2 and gave me a chance to fulfill my dream with Galliyan. One day, Mohit just called and said that I was to record the song the day after. There was no time to even rehearse or train for it. We recorded the song in just two-and-a-half hours! It’s wonderful that Vishal heard it and asked me to record a song for Haider.

Besides ABCD 2, you haven’t signed any films. Being choosy?
I am being patient. Though I am getting many offers I decided that, this time around, I am going to be a little patient. It is very important for me to do interesting roles so I will wait a little. If you have noticed I am not doing the typical song-and-dance number in my films. After ABCD 2, I am not in a hurry to sign a film. My heart has to want to be a part of it, so I am just going to hold on for a little while longer. I want a little bit of everything — a good banner, strong content, good cast and a good director. It all depends on where you are in life at that point and where your life takes you. Right now, all I need to be is be patient till something very special — roles and films that encapsulate everything — come along.

ABCD 2 is all about dancing. You have proved yourself as an actress and singer. Can you match the pace of your lead actor Varun Dhawan’s dancing skills?
Incidentally, I play a professional dancer in the film. I can’t rate myself as a dancer. All I know is that I love dancing. I have an insane, crazy love for dance! Right now, we are rehearsing for the film and I’m loving every minute of it. In ABCD 2, the real stars are the dancers and Varun and I have to really match up to them. They are phenomenal — just their energy, vibe and team spirit is amazing. We are having a blast at the rehearsals. I am also getting a chance to converse in Marathi and it’s a lot of fun. I have the love of dance and the will and want to become good at it, so I will.

With success, comes expectations. Comment.
It’s scary. One moment, you are riding really high... the next, if your film doesn’t do well, you are suddenly not wanted or are not as hot anymore. The reality of it hits home more so now, because there are so many more faces. Nobody is indispensable so it is that much more important now for everybody to understand the power of that particular Friday. Having said that, I must add that, I take box-office success and failure a little philosophically. What goes up must come down, everything in life is transient, one shouldn’t take the ups and downs so seriously and live in the moment. I guess this comes from the fact that my first film wasn’t successful so I had the best foundation. I feel fairly balanced as a person. Of course, that doesn’t mean I am not celebrating my success! (laughs)

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 3, 2014)

After the Aashiqui 2 chartbuster, Sun raha hai na, Ankit Tiwari admits he was under a lot of pressure when he reunited with the film's director Mohit Suri for his next Ek Villain. "I didn't want to be a one-film wonder," he says.

Mohit had outlined a situation to him and Ankit was still thinking about it during an evening stroll when a mukhda, penned by lyricist Manoj Muntashir, floated into his mind: Yahin doobe din mere, yahin hote hain savere, yahin marna aur jeena, yahin mandir aur madeena. "The words are simple, direct and straight from the heart, the thoughts so pure. I found myself humming the verse as I walked around my building's compound. For me the toughest part is composing the mukhda and the punchline. Once that's done, the antaras flow. By the time I went up to my apartment, I had the song playing in my mind," says the singer-composer of Galliyan which has been ruling charts since its release.

Back home, Ankit fine-tuned the composition and arranged it on his keyboard. The next day, he sent it across to Mohit. "Mohit who has an ear for music liked it instantly. But at the time I wasn't sure if it'd be used in the film. He'd kept Sun raha hai na with him for a year-and-a-half before using it in Aashiqui 2. Galliyan was with Mohit for only a month before he picturised it. In fact, the first promotional still of the movie--Shraddha (Kapoor) riding a bike with Sidharth (Malhotra) riding pillion--is a shot from Galliyan, the first song to be filmed for Ek Villian," Ankit points out.

The artiste says that the emotion expressed in the song is young, immature love. It marks the starting point in a relationship. So, the man is hesitant, even apprehensive about approaching the girl. While trying to build up his courage, he follows her around, watching her with a smile from a distance.

"All of us have gone through this phase so it's easy to empathise with the feelings expressed," he reasons. "But for me it was a difficult composition because I had to come up with a soothing song in a film which was the love story of a villain. Fortunately, love is my forte and I could live up to Mohit's expectations, again," he says.

Once the song was composed, there was no debate on who would sing it. It had to be Ankit. The surprise was Shraddha singing the female version for an unplugged version of Galliyan, recorded later. Ankit had heard her humming on the sets of Aashiqui 2. She'd revealed that her family tree included greats like Lata Mangeshkar. "I'd decided then that given an opportunity, I'd get Shraddha to sing for me," says Ankit.

Shraddha couldn't believe her ears when she was told that Mohit and Ankit wanted her to sing a version of Galliyan. "Mohit wanted to incorporate it towards the end to enhance the poignancy of the love story. Having never done playback before, I was nervous. But it went pretty smooth," she smiles.

Ankit insists that music is in her blood and since Shraddha has also been training in it, her singing is extremely mature.

"She's a one-take artiste. We finished the song in around three hours. Mohit had insisted I sing the second antara, it was fun to dub with her," says Ankit, adding that had she not become an actress, she could have gone on to be an excellent playback singer. "Even now she can make a career as a singer."

He has never heard Sidharth sing but during the music launch of Aashiqui 2 he had watched Aditya Roy Kapur strum his guitar and sing Sun raha hai na before a live audience. Ankit says that if presented with an opportunity some day, he'd like to get Aditya behind a mic too.

On the day Galliyan was launched, Ankit was arrested after the woman he was in a relationship with accused him of rape. The timing couldn't have been worse.

But, he found support from Mohit, who realising that Ankit was low, narrated the story of his next film, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, and told him to compose a song for the film.

He is equally grateful to the film industry, the music fraternity and his fans for standing by him through the tough times. "Today, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Maharashtra to West Bengal, from the US and Sri Lanka to Dubai and New Zealand, Galliyan is playing everywhere. It's such a high," he exults. 

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 9, 2014)

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; May 16, 2014)

Shraddha Kapoor’s portrayal of a singer in Aashiqui 2 may have won her a loyal fan following but the actress is apparently in no mood to make singing her vocation in real life. This, despite the fact that she is singing in her upcoming film, Ek Villain. It has emerged that the actress recently turned down an offer to cut an album.

Says a source, “Shraddha has impressed a lot of people from the industry with her vocal skills. Those who got a chance to listen to her song told her that they loved her voice. So much so that the actress was also approached by a few music companies who wanted to cut an album with her. But the actress declined these offers, as she wants to focus on acting right now. Not many know that the actress comes from a musically inclined family; many of her family members are singers. In fact, Shraddha too is a trained singer.

Says a source, “T-Series approached Shraddha to cut an album with her and so did two other music companies. But she politely refused the offers as she doesn’t want to become a professional singer and only wants to concentrate on acting as of now.”

Shraddha could not be reached for comment whereas T-Series’ Bhushan Kumar denied the news.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 24, 2014)

After Alia Bhatt’s Sooha Saha track for AR Rahman in Imtiaz Ali’s Highway, buzz is, it’s Shraddha Kapoor’s turn to belt out a song. Although, Balaji Motion Pictures has been tight-lipped about the development, Mirror has it that the actress is making her singing debut in their upcoming production, Ek Villain.

Revealed a friend of the actress, “The song, called Galiyan, was recorded last week at a suburban studio. It’s a duet with Ankit Tiwari, who rose to fame with the Aashiqui 2 hit number Sun Raha Hai Tu. The track has been composed by Ankit as well.” In Aashiqui 2, although Shraddha played a singer, it was Shreya Ghoshal who sung for her. However, it seems that the actress (whose mother Shivangi Kolhapure is Lata Mangeshkar’s niece) is now ready to put her singing talent to test. The source revealed that she has been taking singing lessons to prep up for her debut behind the microphone.

When contacted, the film’s director Mohit Suri without denying the news, said, “It’s too early to comment. We will make an announcement soon.”