Raised in Mysuru, born in Ankali in Belagavi, and currently anchored in Bengaluru, singer Ananya Bhat is the voice in the songs Garbadhi (solo), Sidila Bharava, Dheera Dheera and Koti Kanasugalu of the multi-lingual film KGF: Chapter 1. She has recorded songs in all five languages.
The 25-year-old musician, a champion of Kannada folk songs, says she got lucky with the opportunity to sing for KGF: Chapter 1, but her experience began with disbelief...
Excerpt from our interview with Ananya (look out for the full interview soon!):
"Ravi Basrur (music director of KGF) is a jovial person through and through. I have sung (practiced) tracks for films under his guidance before. So, when he said he had convinced the director and the producer of KGF about the strength of my voice, and often asked me to keep my voice in a good state, I just thought it was in line with his general cheery disposition."
"But then, he asked me to sing the final version of the song (Garbhadi). I went there with disbelief and thought 'Come on, as if I'll be asked to sing for Yash’s film!' But I recorded the song. "Then came another question: Do you know Tamil? I had scored for the film Karuppan (2017) starring Vijay Sethupathi (Usire, Usire). So that was a yes."
"Do I know Telugu? I spent two days immersing myself in Telugu songs, movies and conversations with my friends. So I got the hang of it. And along came singing the songs in Hindi, the language I had studied in school. So this was just about practising, then."
"During multi-lingual recording, translators help us out. For Malayalam, it was Mohan Krishna sir. I didn't know the language. I was told Malayalam was difficult to learn. So obviously, I wanted to do just that. After I sang, I sent it to my Malayalam friends to ask if it sounded anything like the language. I was relieved when they said yes."
"You see, I’m crazy about languages. Now I'm learning Konkani. I learn them from friends, from songs and conversations. I observe what’s inside the language, its nuances. If I’m eating a donut, I’ll understand what's in it: here’s sugar, maida, oil etc."
The singer of Garbhadi considers her mom her greatest critic, as "one who keeps me grounded and someone who I have always looked up to."
Here's Ananya with a quick rendition exclusively for Deccan Herald.
(As told to Shruthi Srinath)