MUMBAI: British singer Arzutra Garielle is known for her soulful voice. But, after being criticized for her accent, she took it as a challenge and practiced singing in Hindi by rehearsing Lata Mangeshkar’s songs for about 10 years. And, after years of hard work, Tripet launched the first song, Woh Pal from her debut Hindi album; Love Was My Idea on 31 March 2017. In an exclusive interview with Radioandmusic, the enthusiastic singer talks about her experience, her mentor Bollywood producer Atif Ali and her idol Shreya Ghoshal.
Can you take me through your debut album, Love Was My Idea that happens to be a musical tribute to your fans?
Love Was My Idea is a collection of nine mini fairytales. Each song has had a real-life experience during the making of it. For example, it was really weird because when I was rehearsing Woh Pal, I was writing in my notebook about my lover from my past life – about his personality, work, life, likes and dislikes and about me and him. It brought tears to my life and I really do believe the love story stemmed from my past life. The album reflects 360 degrees of love as it covers every possible emotion both in and out of love.
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Singing in a completely foreign language i.e. Hindi is a task but you managed to sail through. Tell us about it and the contribution of Atif Ali in it.
I would love to get some real feedback from native Hindi speakers about my accent, but 10 years ago my accent sucked! After people telling me I had no chance of singing in Hindi, I decided to prove them wrong. So, I sang Lata Mangeshkar’s songs for 10 years daily to work on my accent. I can’t say it’s been easy. Every night, I dedicated hours to studying the vowels of certain words. Atif Ali accepts shortcomings in the studio neither with singing nor with pronunciation. Needless to say, the studio is where Atif Ali has had to groom me somewhat with some really hard to pronounce words like khwahish and even simple words like pagal. I have a hard time with the R’s, but I don’t see it as a weakness rather an addition to my uniqueness.
You have crooned covers of many popular songs like Kamli, Aa Vee Jaa, Saathiya, which song is close to your heart?
While, working with Bollywood Producer Atif Ali, I have definitely developed a dominant Bollywood style and most recognizable in the Kamli cover. Kamli is actually the last song that was recorded on the album and I remember saying to Atif Ali, “Make me a masterpiece.” He did just that. Kamli is definitely close to my heart.
Your style of singing is different and has connected with youth in a short time. How did you find this style? Is it inspired by singers from different walks of life?
My style is a very much like Shreya Ghoshal type with aspirations to mimic Alicia Keys. Mariah Carey is on my playlist daily and so with these three influences, I do believe my style is becoming refined more and more to resemble even the tiniest of aspects from any of these role models. I have also been influenced by Opera voices such as Maria Callas since 2015 and so I think that influence might be heard in the second album if not the third.
Your latest song Kho Jaaoon was a Valentine hit and was loved by fans. Any thought on it?
Kho Jaaoon was only ever meant to be a song on the album without being released as a single. However, once we finalized it in the studio, every time I heard it, I always visualized very fantasy-like images like Tumhe Yaad Karte Karte video. I couldn’t stop fantasizing when I would play the song and I just decided to shoot exactly what was in my head. Me looking straight into camera feeling playful.
Who is your musical inspiration from Bollywood? We heard you want to be the next Shreya Ghoshal.
Shreya Ghoshal is my number one role model apart from Lata Mangeshkar. The reason she’s my idol is that Lata Mangeshkar is her idol so I know I can’t go wrong following Shreya Goshal.
Can you shed light on your upcoming projects?
I have been working on my debut album and my second album simultaneously. The first song of the second album Marjaa is coming out in May, the second album is very different from the first. We have gone much more Bollywood vibe with a prominent western influence this time. 2018 also sees some up-tempo dance tracks showing off a totally different side of me. I am also working on launching my beauty brand which I’m very passionate about and it has been in the making for seven years now. It will go with the brand name Kentri.
Which Bollywood star do you want to sing for?
I would love to sing for Aamir Khan because he is a perfectionist. He is one person I would invite criticism from. He knows what he wants and I would love to sing for someone so demanding to give me a real feeling of what Bollywood is all about.
Any message for fans you want to leave?
I hope to see fans in person once I start touring later this year. They are the reason for my existence and I dedicate the album to them. In fact, I hate calling them fans; I see them more like family.
Love Was My Idea has nine songs, of which eight are yet-to-be-released. We wish Arzutra Garielle makes big.
