Anushka Manchanda says that she’s a singer by choice but a playback singer by chance. While she’s crooned extensively for both Tamil and Hindi movies, she began her career singing in Bollywood in 2006 with Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal. Anushka has been the voice behind chartbusting numbers like Dum Maaro Dum and Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, but she turned actress with Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses last year.
The former Viva band member says that she hit the jackpot with the movie. “There are two reasons I take up any project; if the project is incredible and I can do some amazing work, or if people involved in the project are talented and creative artistes. With this project I lucked out with both!” Anushka says that the cast of the movie — including Sarah-Jane Dias, Sandhya Mridul, Pavleen Gujral and others — intend to remain in touch with each other. “We’re all extremely close to each other; something people find it hard to believe. The bond between us is real. We love and protect each other fiercely.”
Put her projects in a straight line and you’ll see why Anushka is different from other singers. From pop music to Bollywood and indie, she’s dabbled in it all. Does Bollywood have a slot for the fiery singer? “I feel like I’m half in and half out. I do honest work and I don’t have any ulterior motives. It is a constantly expanding industry today where there is work for everyone. I’ve done over a hundred songs now but am still excited when I get called in to the studio by a music director to sing! And I am creating work for myself too. I enjoy experimenting and working with different people. That’s why I love doing voice-overs for ads and singing jingles. It’s interesting to keep doing new things.”
Anushka says she plans to write more music this year. “I’m producing music now and am working on a solo project. I’m also making music for ads with my younger brother (Shikhar, producer) and I want to study my craft more. After Zindagi in AIG, I want to go back to writing songs which are simple and come from the heart.”
