MUMBAI: Destiny takes you where you’re meant to be and Nikhita Gandhi was destined to be a singer. Well, the artiste who made her Bollywood debut with Pritam’s remake track ‘Raabta’ had no plans of getting into singing. She was busy planning her life around a clinic when AR Rahman happened to her.
Yes, Gandhi’s story is no short of an Indian music industry fairytale. She had it all planned to be a dentist, just like her parents, when life took a u-turn. The singer was in the third year of her college when she learnt about Rahman auditioning for Qyuki. Gandhi had her exams going around the same time so, she decided on recording her voice and sending to Rahman’s office instead of going to the audition. “My video was completely different from the brief. They had asked to sing in low pitch and I sang in my usual husky voice. Rahman Sir noticed me. I got a call from his office and I began recording for him,” stated the singer.
Ideally, anyone in Gandhi’s place would have moved out of college and given their heart and soul to music, but she continued studying. “I was juggling in between recording and college. This was also the long standing joke between me and Rahman Sir. Every time I would walk into the studio, he would ask if, I am still in college,” laughed the singer.
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It was only during her dentistry internship when Gandhi realised that she wouldn’t be able to do justice to both and she chose music.
In 2012, she cut a Bengali album titled ‘Kotha’, a re-arrangement of Nazrul Geeti, songs written by renowned poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. After having worked on her personal studio album and sung a few songs in regional films, Gandhi got a breakthrough by performing the song ‘Ladio’ from Shankar’s film, I (2015). Composed by A R Rahman. She managed to record the song within four hours after translating it into Hindi. She then subsequently recorded the Telugu and Hindi versions of the song, earning critical acclaim for her work. Other projects she worked for in 2015 include Rahman’s ‘O Kadhal Kanmani’ and Anirudh’s ‘Thanga Magan’.
Gandhi who is a trained Odissi dancer and a trained singer — having learnt Hindustani music for 12 years — confessed, “I am a bit of a jack of all trade, but it’s definitely not the master of none case. I have entered Bollywood but I do not want to stop working in the South. They have some remarkable composers and great musicians.”
The singer also feels extremely blessed to have bagged ‘Raabta’ as her first Bollywood project. “I don’t think I could have asked for something better. Deepika Padukone is the face of the song. I am really happy with all of it,” stated the singer.
The song has crossed 28 million views and has become a favourite amongst the youth.
Gandhi who does not consider herself too ambitious stated, “I am not very ambitious but I am definitely hardworking. This is probably how everything falls into place for me.”
Furthermore, the singer hasn’t given up on dentistry completely she still practices when her parents set up special check-up camps.
