Neha’s got a song on her lips

Want to be heard with `Sunn'... Neha Bhasin.

Former Viva band member, Neha Bhasin, is on cloud nine these days.

Kuchh Khaas... the track that she sang for Fashion, went on to top the charts. Since then, this Delhi girl has been flooded with offers. Neha has been travelling all over for shows and her Bollywood career is also in top gear. She says, “I recently sang for Inder Kumar’s Daddy Kool. Raghav Sachar has given the music for the film. I have also sung for Onir’s next, Kill Chabbra, for which Gaurav Dayal has composed the music.”

If you thought that was enough to keep the singer busy and content, Neha tells us that her dil maange more. “I am glad to be getting good work, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for something special that might just fall into place. You’ll have to wait for the good news, though.”



NEHA BHASIN had a bad voice when she was a child. "That's what my mum says," the perky pop singer relates. "It was really bad and as I grew older, it became sweeter. Usually, it is the other way round, isn't it?"

Neha, one of the VIVA girls, is all fired up about her solo career. "It is better being solo as one has more control over one's career." Talking about the touching "A Plea to My Lord" that she wrote post-tsunami, Neha says, "It was an overwhelming moment. I just felt I had to do what I could." While Neha has an international album in the pipeline, she would first like to make it "in India". And taking her towards that goal is her maiden album Sunn.

"Somesh Mathur has made the music and I have written the lyrics. I write from the heart and hate it when people tell me what to write." Neha writes in Hindi and English, though she finds it easier to write in English "as in Hindi, there is all this stuff like aap, tum while in English, there is just `you' you know what I mean?"

"The eight tracks in Sunn can be divided into four for listening pleasure and four out-and-out dance numbers. It is a serious album without frivolous lyrics, except for `Papa O Papa'. The song is addressed to teenagers and when we first thought of Papa, I wondered if it would be too trivial. But then I felt this is a phase all of us go through when our fathers have a particular dream for us and we have our own," she says.

Supportive parents

While saying her parents were "very supportive," Neha admits there was a time when her dad, a lawyer, expressed doubts about her career choice. "But I always wanted to be a performer. I think it was when I was eight, I saw Michael Jackson in Black or White and I decided that is what I wanted to do."

Neha has also sung and written lyrics for the film Bullet - Ek Dhamaka and is keeping options open about playback singing. "As of now, I just want Sunn to become a super hit and to be plastered on every television channel." While admitting the importance of music videos, Neha says, "Music should appeal to the ears and not the eyes. A music video should support the song not the other way round."

With so much emphasis on looks, did Neha ever go in for a stylist? "Oh God! No! A stylist is the most boring option because they are not interested in you as a person. They just want to mould you into whatever is in style. During VIVA, the stylists were always trying to turn me into someone I was not."

And what is the real Neha like? "I like bright colours and lots of it, short skirts, boots and hats. I think headgear is just too cool and versatile." Though there have been offers for veejaying, modelling and serials, Neha has turned them all down as "they are just not me."

"I love dancing and would be the happiest making it as a performing artiste." So here is wishing the pint-sized dynamite all the best with her singing and her sociology exams. "VIVA happened when I was doing my first year. And then I just got very busy with shows. Everyone is after me to complete my degree, so I am appearing for my second year exams in April," she explains with an impish grin. Even pop stars have to cram for exams, what a heartening thought!