Shilpa rao

This up-and-coming singer who has lent her voice to songs such as ‘Saiyan Re’ (‘Salam-E-Ishq’), ‘Tose Naina Lage’ (R 16;Anwar’) and ‘Woh Ajnabi’ (‘The Train’) is definitely on the roll. She won the Screen award for Best Femal Singer for “Khuda jaane” from Bachna E Hasseno.

According to Shilpa, she is open to all kinds of music. “I grew up to ghazals as my father was a ghazal fan. Then as I went to a missionary school, I was a part of the choir and then in my teens, I was into rock… As you grow older, your taste in music changes. Now, I listen to everything; anything that makes me smile,” says Shilpa who admits she is a major movie buff.

While she feels upbeat and classical-based beats are best suited for her kind of vocals, she says she was pleasantly surprised to discover she could do romantic numbers.

“Vishal Shekhar asked me to do a romantic number for one of his movies. Although I was sceptical, when I finally heard the recording, it sounded good. I guess it is a question of how you adapt to the different genres of music.”

The singer has in her kitty songs for the movies ‘Aamir’ and ‘Dev D,’ ‘Good Luck’ and ‘Horn Ok Please.’

“I have also sung a Telugu song for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy,” says Shilpa signing off.