INTERVIEW WITH VASUNDHARA DAS - II

Who : Vasundhara Das
About : Singer and Actress
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasundhara_Das

How it happened : Interview with Vasundhara Das
Interview Date: Summer, 2003
Place: Bahrain
Pics: None

Nikhil Taneja (NT) :You started learning music at a very tender age of 10, when your grandmother encouraged you to take it up. At that time, were you interestered in it yourself or were you forced to learn it ?
Vasundhara Das(VD) : When I was 10, it I had really no understanding of music as such, and it was just that the family was so oriented to music, so we had been hearing a lot of music right from a really young age and so it was almost like it was natural. I don’t know, I can’t really explain it, but at that time, I would be very playful about it and wouldn’t take my lessons very seriously and you know how it is…when there is somebody at home, trying to teach you something…for some reason, you don’t happen to take it seriously! So, my grandma eventually got fed up and put me under somebody else, thinking that I might actually learn something there.

NT : When you actually started showing interest in the music field, what was your family reaction ? Apparently, your mother didn’t find it a safe career option.
VD : Well, its true in every sense…I mean when you see the number of people that are there in this business and the ratio in comparison to the number of people who actually make a living of a business like this…it is generally considered not very feasible. My mom was from a scientific background and everything and she said that you should have a definite option open for you, if you opt out…which is what she urged me to get a degree. But beyond that she never discouraged me from learning music because it wasn’t a feasible career option

NT : Is that the only reason you got yourself a qualified degree in Maths and Statistics ? If given an option, would you have considered something otherwise ?
VD : Umm…well I did seriously consider going full time into music, which is why my mom had to make these suggestions for me. You never know that tomorrow you might want be doing a marketing job, for which you need to get an MBA(giggles). You never know how things go…so at least the door is open. And then, quite by …I don’t know…elimination …I decided to do Maths and Statistics (laughs), because you know… I didn’t want biology, because I didn’t want to dissect(giggles). I didn’t want chemistry because there are too many formulae for me to learn. But fortunately I really loved maths, and I had some wonderful teachers along the way…so that was really great. And the college where I was studying…had a wonderful statistics department. So I actually ended up learning something out of it (laughs) !

NT : Tell us a little more about Freedom Jam, which you joined to get exposure to the Banglore music circle before you got your first break as a singer.
VD: Freedom jam was really sort of a get together for musicians…it was by musicians, for musicians…that kind of a thing…a democratic music process, if there is any sense to that (giggles) ! The concept being free music, because Banglore was going through a very bad patch, as far as music was concerned...because the police had shut down bands playing in bars, as they considered anything that is played along alcohol, under A category, called cabaret, which really didn’t make any sense… because not everything, not every performance is a cabaret. So, in any case, you can’t reason with them and they just decided, no, we are not going to have any music where alcohol is served. So a lot of the restaurants, which earlier used to have…say a little band set up or things like that, where musicians could actually perform, closed down. So musicians started to leave Banglore and stuff like that. So at this point some of us got together and said, okay, let’s do somethings...lets play somewhere. But there was nowhere to play! So then the consensus was, to make some place where people can play and people can come and look. So that’s where it all began…and the first freedom jam was actually of the 15th of august…on the independence day of the 50th year of indian independence. And we all kicked off…a lot of people came and you know, I was performing with River at that time(one of the two bands she had once been a part of)...and it was great. It was just a sort of place where people could come together and play music. And we actually met a lot of musicians and got to explore a lot… the different styles of music that you might not have otherwise considered.

NT : You are a person of diverse tastes. Had you taken up Spanish and Flamenco lessons calculatingly or was it because you had been influenced by them after interaction with a few columbian musicians ?
VD : Well, my exposure into Spanish music came through that entire Latin-American friends phase, after which I joined up Spanish class to learn the Spanish language, because I was so interested in their style of music. And that’s where I met this other friend of mine, who was a Spaniard, a teacher, who used to teach my Spanish, and it so turned out that she was a big fan of Flamenco...and she really loves music…and when she got to know that I was really learning Spanish because I wanted to sing and she started to get people to send me music…her friends sending me music from spain - that was so cool !

NT : You seem to be an opportunist. You made the first move to approach Magnasound for playback singing, where you met Praveen Mani. Had you thought it would work out ?
VD : I actually went to magnasound earlier on, and I met him through them and he was down from Canada, doing a few albums for them and that’s how I met him. And we got on really well together and we started to try out demos. When they were out, we tried out a few English demos and stuff like that. So my whole point was that, if in 3 days, I had 3 songs…so in 8 days, I would have had an album…but well it doesn’t go that way(giggles) ! We used to hang out a lot because we were trying to do these demos together, and through him I met Rahman, and through him Mani Rathnam and through him…the entire industry!

NT : Similarly, you had gone for the screen testing of Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding. Did your intutions tell you that the movie would come to be acknowledged in such a big way ?
VD : Well, when we were making it, it was really about making it. We never really thought beyond it. We were in the moment….because we were really trying so hard to be, so really, at that point nobody was focusing on anything but doing the movie...about actually making it. And I could tell you that much that even Mira really didn’t expect it to go off so well...you know, because she kept saying throughout that I don’t know…I think my next film is really going to be my crossover breakthrough. She had never really thought that Monsoon Wedding was going to be that crossover breakthrough (giggles). She kept saying this is my sort of a feasibility into my crossover breakthrough !

NT : Moving on to movies, an interesting fact is that when you approached AR Rahman for playback, he referred you to Mani Ratnam for the screen test of his upcoming movie. Why do you think that didn’t work out ?
VD : Well, it was quite simple. They had found somebody and she didn’t give them dates and that’s why they were looking for somebody else. That’s when I happened to meet Rahman, and that’s when this entire thing happened and then I went and tested for that. It was great, becase we all got down so well and Mani Sir is this really lovely person. He was looking at this girl, who comes into his office and looks completely sceptical, saying why have you called me here (laughs). Actually, he had been seeing these hoards of people coming to his office, saying please give me a role and there I was, asking what am I doing here (giggles) ! So it got strange for him and for me as well, because I just found myself in these outfits…and trying out different things ! So I really wasn’t adjusted to the idea...that would be one reason. Two, Shalini came back and gave him the dates, so in all fairness, the role was hers anyway.

NT : When you were referred to him by Mrs. Anita Rathnam, did Kamal Hassan sign you without a hitch or did he make you vie for the lead actress role ?
VD : I don’t know how she heard about what (giggles)…I was just in Mani RatHnam’s office for about 5 days, then these various tests. Anita Rathnam told Kamal about me…I think she had heard about the test with Mani Ratnam. Usually that’s what happens - it starts from Mani Rathnam and goes around to 10 other guys. Then again, he had also heard PC Sriram, because PC Sriram is one of the better cinematographers…who Mani Rathnam, as well as Kamal Hassan, work with, a lot. So, what happened was, that PC Sir is also a friend of Kamal’s...so he also referred me to him. So then, he didn’t need to know more credibility. So that’s how I got called for that test and I just went in one morning and the evening I was chosen for this role.

NT : You have said in some of your interviews that you had refused the Abhishek Bachchan starrer, Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya because you didn’t like the script whereas in some others you have refused saying anything as such. Can you clarify the matter ?
VD : Well really, there was nothing in the role of the girl that they wanted me play…and that really doesn’t excite me, does it ?

NT : After Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya, haven’t you given a thought to acting inmainstream Bollywood movies ?
VD : Well, I have… in fact Monsoon Wedding, I would say, is quite a mainstream Bollywood movie. Its just been made differently, but I think it is quite a commercial movie. Its not, in any way, an art film. I am not averse to acting in sort of a film, I just have a few requisites for the roles that I play… and one of them, definitely, is strength of character. Two, is a sort of strength in the story. Three, is probably a character that’s one I can identify with, that’s what I want…and if I am not able to find that, I don’t think I will be able to do justice to the character.

NT : After working with stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah, Kamal Hassan, Mohan Lal, Ajith, etc, has acting been easy for you or has it been all the more difficult to keep up with their standards ?
VD : Well….nice question (giggles). …Working with Kamal was a huge challenge…because, it was my first ever experience in acting and I was competing with probably the best actor in India at present, and I really don’t know how good or bad I was in that film. I remember Kamal actually laughing at me in the interviews because I used to say I really don’t know how this is going to work out…I am just doing this because it was just an experience! And he would laugh at me in public and would say she really doesn’t know what she has done in this film (laughs). And she really doesn’t know that she doesn’t look like a beginner in the film. And when I saw it, I realised what he was saying ! I don’t know how he got it out of me, I really don’t… but I do know that I identify with this character a lot…even though it was more sub consciously than very consciously and there was so much in this character that you got excited about and you wanted to be in it, rather than try to act it, you know. So that’s what it was with Kamal.

Then subsequently, with Naseer, it was more of a teacher-student relationship that I shared, because he was pretty much the father figure of the set of Monsoon Wedding. And we learnt a hell of a lot from him…about methods of stimulating your acting buds and things like that, which I, as a complete outsider to this industry, wasn’t aware of at all. So, that was great.

Umm...then, Citizen (with Ajith) was a completely different experience, because that was commercial mainstream cinema. And there is a hell of a lot that one has to deal with there…you have to be really strong and you have to pretty much close your eyes and do that. And so, that was again a learning experience, I would say. Then with Mohanlal, it was someone to look up to, in the sense that a great actor, who would be the same offset and onset, and you would just watch this guy (giggles)…he just sleepwalks into dialogues, without any effort whatsoever. He was just reeling them off(giggles).. It was just an incredible thing to watch…I mean how these guys...how well they do it! Again, I can’t compare Ajith in any sense with the other people that we have spoken about, for example, Naseer or Kamal or Mohanlal, but he was a really nice guy.

NT : Your debut song won you a filmfare. Did that ever force you to re consider your acting assignments and concentrate only on your music career ?
VD : No… because I thought, as I said, acting and singing are two different expressions of the same emotion… and if I can do both, there is nothing like it, because by then I had caught they acting bug, as they say it (giggles).

NT : From Rabba Mere Rabba to Gustakhiyan, Bollywood composers also seem to want to get hold of you. Can you tell us about your future music assignments in Bollywood ?
VD : I am doing a lot of playback singing…in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada(giggles)…but otherwise, I am also working with another album of my own after Meri Jaan. So I am also completely going on my own track, as far as solo album or music is concerned…and I am still continuing that. So I do plan to get out an album sometime soon…in fact I am working on it right now...but I don’t know when or how that’s going to come out (laughs).

NT : Your debut music album had a bit of everything. What do you think went wrong with it ?
VD : (spontaneously) The marketing (giggles).

NT : What new are you coming up with in your next album and how long would your fans have to wait for it ?
VD :You just have to wait (laughs) !

NT : Finally, what are your future plans and which are your upcoming movies ?
VD : My future plans are to remain the singer and the actress and to accept these challenges and live upto them and my future movies. I don’t really know when they are going to be coming out, so I don’t really want to say anything about them (laughs).

© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)