”Listening to my mother sing inspired me so much” – Shweta Mohan

Singer Shweta Mohan made her singing debut almost 10 years ago, and since then Shweta went on to win several awards including four Filmfare awards, Tamil Nadu State award and Kerala state awards as well. Having sung over 500 songs in over four languages, Shweta is one of the most popular playback singers of today’s times. The singer has recently released her first indie single  Yaavadhum enave (Tamil)/Sab mera hain (Hindi) and she is winning appreciation for it. DGZ Media caught up with the award-winning singer.

1. Congratulations on your first Indie single. How do you think your fans have reacted to your song?

Very well! It’s been very good! I would say that I have received 95 percent positive response. The rest is criticism. I am not someone who would not accept criticism as it gives you some valid feedback. And It’s better to hear feedback, than people saying good job. To quote a line from one of my favourite films Whilplash, Terence Fletcher says ”There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job” and I completely agree with it.

2. Who is your biggest critic? Is it your mom singer Sujata or your husband?

My Biggest critic is my husband, Ashwin. He listens to quality music and there is so much variety in it. He would refuse to hear something mediocre. He is quite frank.

3. Earlier this year, you also sang and featured in the cover of Lata Mangeshkar’s popular classic Lag Ja Gale. What was the idea behind it?

It was a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar’s 75th year in the industry. And since it was a cover it made sense to feature in it.

4. Are you nervous facing the camera? Tell us about your experience of working in front of the camera.

I have been in the industry for over 10 years so I wasn’t nervous facing the camera. But the overall shooting experience was new. You are surrounded by so many technicians, you have so many people looking at you, all this was new. We shot in the beautiful locations of Kerala the song is completely about nature, so there is no way I could have done it indoors. But I didn’t have time to think of all that as we had to shoot the song in two languages. In terms of preparation, I was also the producer so I worked to ensure we complete it on time. The editor of the song (Pradeep Jennifer) had very tough time editing the song since we had several scenes of small durations. The director (Shruthi Nandagopal) and I worked discussed on picking the right costumes for the song as well.

Seen in the pictures (left) Shweta Mohan and the song’s composer Bennet Roland. (right) Director Shruthi Nandagopal, D.O.P Siddharth and Shweta Mohan.

5. During the 90s, there was a rise in the Indie music scene in Tamil. Over the years, this seems to have faded. Why do you think this happened? Will it revive?

It faded because the cassette and CD era faded. This is why Independent music and music videos slowed down. Now because of youtube the independent music scene in back. And Music is a stress buster, people love listening to music. And given that films have very few songs these days, people are now moving their attention towards independent music.

6. What’s your take on actors turning singers?

If technology is supporting it, then why not? If I hear my favourite actor sings for a film I would be very happy. In today’s times, it’s also a way of marketing a film and giving recognition to a music composer.

6. What’s the one moment or situation in your life that made you realise that you were meant to be a singer?

As a child, I didn’t have interest in singing. Music was an everyday thing at home, so I didn’t pay attention to it. But things changed one day. When I went to pick up my mother from the recording studio I also got a chance to listen to her sing. She was recording for a song for music composer M. Jayachandran. Listening to her sing at that moment, ignited a huge fire in me. It inspired me so much.

7. Just out of curiosity, I would like to know your opinion on apps such as musically and Smule. As a singer what are your thoughts on this?

All this opens up with opportunities for budding singers and artists. This is great, it’s amazing! I would not personally use apps like these as I am not an advocate of Karaoke. It takes away the opportunity for a musician to perform.

8. There have been several incidents in stage shows were the music and lip-sync fail to match. For example, actor Mohanlal has also fallen prey to it. What are your views on this? What goes wrong here?

There are occasions where singers have to lip sync for their songs. For example, an opening ceremony of an IPL, working on the sound check is not possible, here’s where singers are requested to show their talent on stage. And if the lip-sync and audio doesn’t match it is a technical fault. For example, in audio release events, when the audience is listening for the first time, the music composers request you to perform and lip sync. But a good musician would never like encourage a singer to lip-sync. Singing live is obviously better than everything.

Image courtesy: Balvin photography