Talktime | Tulsi Kumar
After giving us hit music like Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein from the movie Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Piya Aaye Na from Aashiqui 2 and Saiyaan Superstar from Ek Paheli leela, Tulsi Kumar is now set to experiment with different genres. She will be starting off with sensual romantic songs. Kumar talks to Sangeeta Yadav about receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award for being the melodious voice of the year
You were recently honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award for being ‘Melodious Voice of the year’. How does this make you feelIJ
This prestigious award means a lot to me. Over the past eight years of my music career, it was a great learning experience and I’ve developed at every stage. Getting an award encourages me to give 200 per cent to my work and achieve great heights. It encourages you to take your tasks seriously and perform them with equal gusto. I’m still very young in the industry and aspire to grow much higher.
Who do you give credit to for your successIJ
My success was a combined contribution of many music directors starting from my father late Gulshan Kumar who spotted the talent in me and trained me since my childhood. I got professional training under Pundit Vinood Mishra ji. It was Himesh Reshammiya who gave me my first break in Bollywood with the song Mohabbat Ke from Aksar movie. Anu Malik gave me the title song Humko Deewana Kergaye which was also the name of the movie. Pritam da made me sing Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein along with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan which was beautifully written by Irshad Kamil. Whenever I sing duets with Mithoon, he explains little things very beautifully and that helps me to give my best performance. And with Jeet Ganguly, the emotions and feeling comes out the best. I used to observe a lot of veterans like lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam and many others that helped me to grow as an artist.
What is the biggest life-lesson that you have learnt from your fatherIJ
Music is not just a profession for me. It is a therapy, language and an institution. My dad was extremely dedicated, hardworking and a great believer of God. His love for music made him the man he is today. When he was young my father used to make a living by selling juice in Delhi’s Darya Gunj area. He then set up his own cassette shop and later decided to come to Mumbai to pursue his dreams. I imbibed all his values and principles.
How have you evolved as a singer over the yearsIJ
I have mostly sung melodious romantic songs but I experimented with my style for the first time by singing Saiyaan Superstar from the movie Ek Paheli leela which turned out to be superhit. I’m venturing into the sensual romantic and out and out dance number with my upcoming single and movie project one of which is Ram Gopal Varma’s project. I have been the playback singer and for the first time, I have given voice-over for YouTube channel Kids Hut.
It’s another creative side which I have explored. like in music, voice over also requires nice vocal, expression and feeling. I have started venturing into live performances as well and from October onwards, I’ll be doing gigs in some of the colleges in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi and at international concerts as well.