One would think that having an ace music director husband Vishal Bharadwaj would make life easy if you're a singer. Rekha Bhardwaj did have a lot of things going her way, but showbiz was never a piece of cake.
The hugely talented singer of such songs like Namak Ishq (Omkara), Ranaji, Beedo (Gulaal) and Genda Phool (Delhi 6), Rekha tells Patcy N about her journey into Bollywood.
How did you get interested in music?
It's all thanks to my father. He was interested in singing and started training his voice. But his parents did not allow him, so he had to give up. But he saw to it that his children learnt music. He would play classical music on the radio.
We would attend classical programmes and music festivals, and have monthly get-togethers at my home where my father's friends and those interested in music would sing the whole night even my mother would sing.
We are five sisters and one brother. My elder sister learnt singing, and would do her riyaaz every morning at 4. I got interested in music from the age of four.
After my sister got married, there was no one to teach me at home. So I joined Ghandarva Mahavidhyalaya music school in Delhi in 1976. I was 12 then. I learnt music for six years. After that, Pandit Amarnath of Indore Gharana taught me music.
Please continue.
I participated in a Doordarshan Network talent hunt. We had to sing ghazals, and I came second. As a child, I was a member of Bal Bhavan Society and would often go to the drama section and learn theatre. When I grew up, I continued with acting and went regularly to Mandi house [a cultural house in Delhi]. Because I was a good singer, I always got the best roles.
I learnt under Pandit Amarnath until I got married to Vishal in 1991.
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Also See: Rekha Bhardwaj sings for rediff
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