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I am back on the road for a string of live shows, says Shilpa
For Shilpa Rao, singing is her profession while performing live is her love. The singer couldn’t be happier that the live music scene has bounced back after being in a long slump, due to the pandemic.
Rao will perform at a literature festival happening at Maldives, and then follow it up with gigs in June in Houston, US. “I am back on the road now! I am a traveloholic, so it adds to the whole experience of performing. Together it all keeps me busy. Thankfully, all the practice sessions that happened during the lockdowns came in handy (for resuming live gigs). We are trying to venture into a
We are trying to take ghazal to audiences all over the world.
different performance set-up. It’s going to be better this year,” says the 38-year-old.
The Ghunghroo (War; 2019) and Phuljhadiyon (Mimi; 2021) singer wants to take the musical art form of ghazals to different places. “We want to take it outside India. We have done a lot of it in India — Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bhopal and Mumbai. Now we are trying to take it to an audience across [the world]. Language is not a barrier, as music is an emotion, connecting with people
SHILPA RAO,
irrespective of where they come from,” she elaborates.
Precautions continue to be a major part of live gig experience, as Rao shares, “It is different from the prepandemic times. You are carrying your sanitisers, trying to be careful when interacting with the audience, giving the occasional warning to people to mask up. A lot of rehearsals are also being done on video calls. Now, if someone is not well, we ask them to stay home, and would send them files.”
Actor Rakul Preet Singh didn’t want to hide her relationship with producer Jackky Bhagnani, and that’s why she made it official on social media last year. But she would rather have her work drive the conversation about her. “Anybody’s personal life is as normal as anything else in their life. It is just that if we were not actors, it wouldn’t be a talking point,” Singh tells us, adding, “I feel being in a relationship is the most natural progression for any human being. Like after parents, siblings, and then having friends, you have a partner.”
The actor, recently seen in Runway 34, states that she and Bhagnani respect their relationship, and that’s why they didn’t want to shrug it off as a friendship. “We don’t want to hide and say we are just good friends. We want to acknowledge it. But do I want it to be a talking point at all times? The answer is no. My work should speak. Both of us are on our own individual journeys when it comes to our professional sphere,” says the 31-year-old, who has a packed calendar with projects such as
Chhatriwali and Doctor G.
When it comes to things being written about them, or the scrutiny, she doesn’t read them. “What matters to me is my job. I treat my job like a job. I am a girl who acts by profession. When I go back, I am a girl who has a normal life,” shares Singh, while crediting her family and “non-filmi friends” for bringing this sense of balance into her life.
“This is the conditioning I grew up with. It is very important to disconnect from work and connect with people who are not from your workspace. That keeps you from being delusional,” she wraps up.