When voice is expression

Gurnaaz Kaur

At just 23, Rupali Jagga has already tasted success and she owes it to her stint in Zee TV’s singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. She shot to fame as the runners-up in 2016 and has since done over 500 live shows on Indian and international turf. 

In Chandigarh to announce the upcoming auditions, to be held at The Sky World Month Litera Zee School on August 24 (Friday), this singer says there’s intense competition in the industry and one has to work really hard. “In these two-and-a-half years since I’ve moved to Mumbai, I’ve realised one thing — even if you make a small, insignificant mistake, there will be at least 10 people to replace you immediately. As many as 100 singers reach Mumbai every day, but not everyone can survive here. The competition is tough and there is no dearth of talent.” 

Body language 

In such a situation, Rupali’s key to survival is, “If you have uniqueness to your art, no one can push you back. In my case, it’s my body language and the expression of my voice. I learnt a lot of it during my Sa Re Ga Ma Pa days. Be it the finer technicalities and nuances of the art or the subject knowledge and exposure, it taught me all of it. Then the live shows I’ve been doing have helped a lot.” 

This young girl from Saharanpur started singing at the age of four and at seven; she started learning classical music from Nidhi Narang 

of Agra Gharana. She 

always knew she was not a mainstream person and wanted to do something different. Not much into studies otherwise, she throughout focused on music and did bachelors in music honours. 

City of dreams

Relocating to Mumbai may sound all starry, but on any given day, she has a packed schedule. “I’ve enrolled for a master’s degree in Music at Mumbai University. Life is really fast and equally tough in the city of dreams. Other than studies and two hours of riyaaz in the morning, I do four to five dummy recordings for music directors like Pritam da, Amit Trivedi and Sajid-Wajid. These are like rough sketches that are given to singers to give an idea about what a music director expects from them. Then almost every week for two, sometimes even four days I am doing live performances. You are on your toes all the time,” she says. 

This does sound tiring, but Rupali adds, “I am enjoying every bit of it. Every day is a step closer to my dream of winning a Grammy! In fact, I want all budding singers to try for the show. It is a befitting platform to showcase your talent and has a history of building extraordinary career in the world of music”

When it comes to dreams, she has already achieved one of them — being a Bollywood singer. Rupali has sung the title track of upcoming film Cakewalk, starring Esha Deol. The song is set to release on August 25. 

gurnaaz@tribunemail.com