Akriti Kakkar is all set to conquer new frontiers, says Mansi Bhansali
After making quite a splash in the film music industry with Saturday Saturday and Iski Uski, Akriti Kakkar is ready to push her frontiers further. She will be singing at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, one of the biggest film festivals which will take place from August 10 to 22. The talented singer has a huge fan following through her Youtube channel with 500 plus subscribers.
Her parents were immensely supportive when she decided to pursue a career in music. She shared, “Music happened to me at the age of five. My parents were supportive, especially my mother, as she is a post-graduate in music. Because of her, a musical environment was created in our house and I was inspired to sing. Twenty years back Sa Re Ga Ma Pa was the only music reality show. And I didn’t know how to get into the music industry professionally. After completing my studies, I convinced my father to take me to Mumbai. After my first song Rangeela le, I received a lot of encouraging messages from people. To build confidence, you just need a start but for that to happen, you need a lot of connections. I was lucky to get the right songs that connnected with the masses.”
Ranging from Saturday Saturday to Khudaya Ve, Kakkar has tried to step out of her comfort zone. “Playback singers don’t have much choice regarding the genre they want to sing. Fortunately, I’ve been lucky to experiment with different kinds of songs. But I like melody the most,” she said.
At the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Kakkar will be performing with her twin sisters Prakriti and Sukriti. For her, it’s absurd to compare her to her siblings. She said, “They’ve learnt from me since I’m nine years older to them. The three of us have different tastes and voice textures in music. I’ve grown up singing classical songs of lataji and Kishorda, while they’ve grown up in the time of Britney Spears. Sukriti loves pop and Western music.”
Kakkar sees Alka Yagnik and Mahalaxmi Iyer as her inspirations. Apart from being a playback singer, Kakkar also creates her own music. “I’m working on independent projects which I’ll upload on my Youtube channel,” she said.
About the recent debate on gender stereotyping in the music industry, Kakkar explained, “We are not the creators, we are at the receiving end. It’s a deep-rooted problem. like actresses, we are treated as accessories in male-centric movies. In a duet, we are given a limited portion. But in some movies, songs for the actor and actress are at par like in Raam leela or Bajirao Mastani. I haven’t faced any gender stereotyping.”