My priority now is to work on a different genre with Rahman sir: Vaishali Samant

Vaishali Samant, who returned to Tamil playback music with Jinguchaa ( Thug Life ) after 25 years, says singing the wedding song was her ‘life comes full circle’ moment since she collaborated with the same composer and filmmaker (AR Rahman and Mani Ratnam, respectively), who introduced her to the Tamil industry, again.

Excerpts from a candid interaction:‘WHEN I GOT TO KNOW I WAS SINGING FOR MANI SIR, THE CIRCLE WAS COMPLETE’Long ago, I had sung Yaro Yarodi ( Alaipayuthey ). When we were recording Aaya Re Toofan from Chhaava , Rahman sir said that I should sing in Tamil again, and within a month or so, he made me sing Jinguchaa . I was very happy that he called me for a Tamil song, but I didn’t know it was for Thug Life and that the song was written by Kamal Haasan sir. When I got to know I was singing for Mani sir again, I felt that the circle was complete.‘THE RHYTHM AND MELODY OF TAMIL MUSIC HAVE A DIFFERENT ENERGY’The combination of Mani sir and Rahman sir is known for its wedding songs, and I’m happy that I got to sing two of those songs. After hearing Jinguchaa, many people told me that I don’t sound like a non-Tamilian, which I was happy to hear. I’m from Maharashtra, and the music there has its flavour and roots. Similarly, artistes from Tamil Nadu are multi-talented. The rhythm and melody of the music here have a different energy.

I want to sing more in Tamil.‘WORKING WITH RAHMAN SIR IS LIKE ENTERING A CLASSROOM WHERE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE SUBJECT IS GOING TO BE’Working with Rahman sir is a blessing. I become an enthusiastic kid whenever I work with him. I ask him, ‘Did I sing correctly? Is this what you wanted me to sing?’ He is always in an experimental zone. Working with him is like entering a classroom where you don’t know what the subject is going to be. But you’re sure that your professor is going to teach you something incredible. My priority now is to work with him again on a different genre.

I would love to sing something emotional, serious, or romantic for him.‘THE AUDIENCE ARE CLEVER; THEY KNOW WHAT TO SELECT AND WHAT TO REJECT’As artistes, we have to keep the connection between the audience and ourselves alive, and social media helps facilitate it. However, I use social media for sharing my music work primarily. Apart from that, I hardly post anything. I’m careful about what I post. Just because I have an audience, I don’t want to overdo it and do something that I don’t like.

As the audience are very clever, they know what to select and what to reject.‘TO CATCH THE FLAVOUR OF EACH LANGUAGE CORRECTLY IS A CHALLENGE’I keep on exploring and listening to different genres of music. And I love singing in multiple languages because every language has its own flavour. To catch that flavour correctly is a challenge, and I love doing that. Learning a language, getting the pronunciation and emotion right, and figuring out which words to emphasise — I call this a phonetic study of a song. The same composition can sound different in different languages.