‘Vaada Karo’ is a pledge to fight climate change and spread awareness about it: Suneeta Rao

The Indipop diva of the 1990s, Suneeta Rao’s claim to fame was ‘Paree hoon main’; it’s been three decades but the song is still fresh in our memories. Her latest single is ‘Vaada Karo’ which is a Hungama Artist Aloud presentation. Not many are aware of this but she trained in Carnatic music, Hindustani music, Bharatanatyam, ballet, and hip-hop. Through her come back song, Suneeta intends to amplify the social message of climate change.

Q. You were among the few artists who were making music outside the Hindi film industry in the 90s, how challenging was it, especially with restricted budgets?

A. I had a lot more creative freedom while recording my albums. I was also fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with stalwarts like Louiz Banks, Leslie Lewis, and Ranjit Barot. I had to take a lot of favours and it did often get awkward as they were all friends of mine and senior to me and I had to beg them to do the projects for lower budgets. This put a bit of pressure on us but I am so grateful that we had conviction and we enjoyed the process thoroughly without anyone restricting us in any way. I also had to take certain bold steps like making and sending the music video of ‘Paree Hoon Main’ directly to MTV as I was not getting enough financial support from the record label at the time. I also had to hunt for sponsorship all on my own to make the video.

I was so lucky that veterans like Ram Madhvani and Mahesh Mathai agreed to direct my videos for me along with cinematography by Anil Mehta, and Jason West, fabulous costume designers like Xerxes Bhathena, Lascelles Symons, and Hemant Trivedi and makeup by Mickey Contractor and Bharat and Dorris, all of whom were huge names in the industry and still worked with me for lower fees. So I had a lot of support on the creative side. Q. When did you first realise that your calling was Indie pop music and you don’t want to be a playback singer?

A. I did my fair share of playback in the earlier part of my career but eventually, I made a conscious choice to focus on my original Indipop music. Having said that, I did a few songs for films, worked with quite a few music directors including Anand-milind, Anu Malik, Viju Shah, and Bappi Lahiri. I even did a Tamil song with AR Rehman for ‘May Madham’ which was terrific. But I found much more freedom to grow musically with my albums.

Q. What influenced you to pen ‘Vaada Karo’?

A. ‘Vaada Karo’ is a pledge to fight climate change and spread awareness about it. I wrote the song when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now 11, and features in the video. I woke up one morning thinking what kind of world are we leaving for our children? And the lyrics of the song just came pouring out: “Rivers drying, Children crying Trees are falling, People dying Ice is melting, Snow caps shrinking

Globe is burning, No one’s thinking

Weather’s changing, Clock is ticking

Seas are swelling, Cities sinking Losing homes, No fault of theirs I’ll make a change

I swear!”

My biggest inspiration for this topic has been my brother, Narasimha Rao who is an associate professor of energy systems at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE). He recently testified on climate and energy at a US

House Committee on Energy. I have grown up listening to him speak of things like the relationship between energy systems, climate change, and human society. So he played a crucial role.

Q. You released the music video of ‘Vaada Karo’ recently. Take us through the collaboration process with Dharavi Rocks and Dhruv Ghaneker?

A. I approached one of my favourite music producers Dhruv Ghanekar, to compose it for me - and he created the melody. After that, I got the Dharavi Rocks Band on board. This band uses recycled material such as plastic drum barrels, aluminium paint cans, coffee shakers, plastic bottles and turns them into percussion instruments, creating a powerful pulsating rhythm orchestra brimming with raw energy and passion. I had been working with them for many years through the ACORN Foundation and the Dharavi Project with Vinod Shetty. So they added percussion and Hindi Rap is by Balaji Devendra aka Crazy B which gave it a fresh, contemporary feel and that’s how it became what it is today. I plan to donate all surplus funds to the ACORN Foundation.

I raised funds for the making of the video through Wishberry as the song was shot for a non-profit organisation. We were earlier planning certain outdoor shoots for this video but had to downscale due to the lockdown. Fortunately, we had shot some great footage of the recording session with the band as well as a couple of live shows. Also, I contacted WWF and got permission to use some of their excellent material. Then I contacted an editor from Bengaluru, Babu Govind, who did a great job with the material. I think it was meant to be this way. Q. With the ongoing pandemic, do you believe it is more important than ever to spread the social message of combating climate change through music?

A. Absolutely! According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “Many of the root causes of climate change also increase the risks of pandemics.” So this video is more relevant now than ever. India has the world’s largest population of poor and vulnerable people who will suffer the worst consequences of climate change. Singers and performers over the ages have been great influencers for social change. Take the songs like ‘Give Peace a Chance’ by The Beatles, ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon, ‘The Earth Song’ and ‘Heal The World’ by Michael Jackson, and closer to home ‘Vande Mataram’ by AR Rehman - all of them have had powerful effects on several generations. It is because we are given a platform that gives us a chance to speak our minds to bring about change in an entertaining or palatable way that we must realise our responsibility and make use of our position - not for selfish reasons but to help make the world a better place to be.

Q. If you could recreate ‘Paree Hoon Main’, how would you reinvent it? A. I have experimented with a new version of it which is very loungy and dynamic but I am not ready to release it. I would like to retain the song as it is in people’s memory.

Q What factors do you keep in mind when you say yes to or turn down a song?

A. Most of my songs are from my albums but when I do get approached to sing for any project the first thing I ask is who is the music producer, then I see if the song suits me and if I can do justice to it.

Q. Do you believe independent music is now being appreciated more? How has social media impacted the independent music industry?

A. Yes, there is a huge platform for independent music now. But you have to put in your money, unlike Bollywood singers. If you do that and know how to navigate social media and make the most of it, you can sit at home and release your work online and reach a lot of people. But you would still need to look for sponsorship if you want to get on the road and tour with your music. That is the hard part.