‘Growing up with women is a different world’ says singer Neeti Mohan 

Neeti Mohan is no new name in the music industry. Having been around for 15 years now, churning out one blockbuster song after another, hers is a voice that suits all seasons and sensations. Be it the peppy Jiya Re; the romantic Ishq Wala Love; the soft Nazar Laaye, or the emotional Haal-e-Dil, Neeti is sure to make you feel the song as much as she does when singing those. Making  her Bollywood debut with the Vishal-Shekhar-composed Student of the Year song Ishq Wala Love, Neeti soon became a name to reckon with. Before starting her playback career though, she was one of the winners of the reality show Popstars, subsequently being chosen for Aasma, with other winners of the show. With a voice as mesmerising and versatile as hers, it’s difficult to believe that growing up, she didn’t know which one to choose as her career — singing or dancing, considering Neeti is also a trained bharatnatyam dancer. In a candid conversation with the singer, we get to know all this and more about Neeti — like what it was growing up surrounded by women, contributing towards women empowerment through MSL- Mohan Sisters Live, putting soul into every song she sings, the collaborations she is looking forward to, and how motherhood has changed her. 

You are often called AR Rahman’s discovery. How does that make you feel?
I feel honoured if people see me as his discovery and yes, I did sing for him and perform for him for the first time many years ago in a concert. That’s how he discovered me. It’s been almost 15 years since I have been singing on stage and in studios with him and I feel extremely honoured. It’s a dream come true every time I sing for him.

There are innumerable singers in the industry, how challenging is it to constantly prove that you deserve a song? Or that you are the best choice to sing a particular song?
Yes, there are so many voices now and so many singers and so many new singers who are so good and they are coming to Mumbai and trying to make a career. But I think when you bring a soul to a song then what you bring is something so unique that you are sure to deserve that song; and if that song and that voice of yours are meant to be, they are meant to be. This is how I see it.

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The Mohan sisters are quite a name in the industry. All of you have made a mark of your own. How was it growing up as sisters and mostly surrounded by women?
We are four sisters, and we are fortunate that we have grown up in an environment where our father has supported our careers, our dreams and our mother has been a constant guide. They have emotionally always been there for us. I feel, growing up with women is a different world. We feel much empowered, and we feel like we can do anything. Anywhere I have gone where by any chance four of us are made to feel that we cannot do something because we are women, we feel angry about that and we feel like no, let us show them how it’s done. We believe that women can do anything and now that I am a mother, I feel all the more empowered and more ambitious about my work. So, growing up in a household with so many girls, it was a lot of fun and at the same time very empowering!

How do you think our music industry has changed, in terms of incorporating contemporary genres? 
In the last two decades, because of the internet and Youtube, the music scene has totally changed. We are now in an age where you can be anywhere and record your vocals and shoot your music video and put it out on social media and you can instantly become a sensation! More and more independent music is going to get noticed and people are looking for good music; they are also vibing with the artistes who are putting out music of their own.

You are also a trained bharatnatyam dancer, how did you end up choosing to sing?
I was always singing and dancing together and I did not know what I liked more. I felt like both are so amazing, so I could not pick one. I used to tell my father that I do not know whether I am singing more or dancing more. So, it was my father who told me that sometimes it’s destiny which shows us the way. When I won the reality show many years ago, that’s when I think destiny played a huge part and showed me the way, and I knew that I was meant for music.

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In terms of contributing to music, is there a plan? Are you consciously working on anything?
Yes, we have started a new property called MSL-Mohan Sisters Live and we are performing together. We are bringing something that is empowering women and bringing shows that are telling women all over the world that you can do it and we sisters want to tell every girl that we are there for you. We also want to give out a message that it is important to empower women around you — that is what we are consciously working towards. We had done a song Nari, which I have released as a single and that was a dedication to all the women; then Kanha Re, where again three of us as sisters had performed together gopis.

In music, what do you think sells? 

A good song with good lyrics that touches the heart, that’s what sells!

Which is a collaboration you are looking forward to?
I am always looking forward to collaborating with different artistes. It’s really exciting for me. I recently collaborated with EPR for Royal Stag Boombox. I would love to collaborate with Ed Sheeran, John Mayer — I really like their songs a lot!

You are also a mother now, and in this age of internet and technology, we are exposed to everything in life; as a mother, how do you look at helping your child  grow up in a safe and stable environment?
As a mother, I have a huge responsibility of a little child who is going to be shaping up under my guidance and my family’s guidance. I want to keep the atmosphere at home very positive and full of learning and interesting topics so that he has a very exciting childhood, and remembers it as a fun experience growing up at home with a lot of music, a lot of learning and arts and crafts and a lot of mythological stories and also songs that I want him to learn — that’s what I want him to get exposed to because I think that is what I will try, but beyond that, we do not know. For things that are beyond my control, I will not bother because then you are unnecessarily stressing about something that has not happened! If something happens then you tackle that, not before that.

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How has motherhood changed you?
It has made me more sensitive, more loving, more productive — because now my time management is insane! I can do multiple things in a day, and I am very proud of 
that. It is very exhausting, but I really thrive on this.

Quick five:

Favourite outfit: Jeans and shirt
Can’t do without: Music
My phone’s wallpaper: Saraswati Ma’s photo; earlier it was my son’s picture
I can sleep in: I can sleep anywhere; I just have to decide to sleep and I can sleep!
I can gorge on: Fruits endlessly. Mangoes and chaat papdi !

rupam@newindianexpress.com
@rupsjain