SHREYA GHOSHAL: YOUNGEST PLAYBACK SINGER NOW:
At 20, Bollywood playback singer Shreya Ghoshal of Devdas fame mock complains that she's often taken too seriously.
"After Devdas, people think I only sing melodious serious songs," laughs Ghoshal.
"But hey, that's not it. I don't mind singing dance numbers and item songs at all," Ghoshal, perhaps Bollywood's youngest playback singer at the moment, told IANS in an interview on phone from Mumbai.
"Don't forget I did Jism," giggles Ghoshal, referring to last year's sex and murder flick. The sultry songs of Jism brought a lot of fame for Ghoshal.
The daughter of an engineer at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Ghoshal's musical genes come from her mother, who is a singer.
"She always inspired me to sing and taught me a lot. Though she doesn't sing professionally," said Ghoshal.
Her next big project is Tumsa Nahin Dekha from the team that made Jism - director-producer Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter Pooja.
"Tumsa Nahin Dekha is a big project for me, I have seven songs in the album and they are of a wide variety - from a jazzy number to soft romantic tunes," she said.
"It has allowed me to experiment with the entire range of my singing capabilities."
The film stars Emraan Hashmi and Dia Mirza.
Ghoshal, who was first discovered through the TV crooning contest Sa Re Ga Ma, shot to fame when director Sanjay Leela Bhansali chose her for his epic "Devdas".
"Devdas was a mind blowing experience," said Ghoshal. "Sanjay spotted me one and a half years before I actually got involved with the film."
She went on to sing for Bollywood queen Aishwarya Rai. "I met Aishwarya several times during the film and she was just wonderful. Extremely polite and charming.
"For me it was a dream come true. I was singing in a film which had the top stars of Bollywood -- Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit."
She was also floored by Khan. "They say Shah Rukh is the King of Bollywood and he really is. He is just magnificent."
Ghoshal's other projects are a special album by Sony Music called Tera Mera Pyar and Chehra, a film starring Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea.
As she notches up film after film, she is also planning to complete her MA in literature. I've just finished my graduation in English and since I love literature, I want to continue my studies. But it will have to be through correspondence."
The young Bengali girl is also dreaming of cutting her own album soon. "And I want to have a video that features me but I won't dance in it."
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