In tune with her legacy

She may have her roots in the Indian music industry’s first family, but Tulsi Kumar has worked hard to establish an identity of her own. Recently honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award for “Melodious Voice of the Year”, the young singer is on cloud nine and affirms that the award is a source of tremendous encouragement and motivation. 

 

“I know that this is the clichéd answer, but I really do feel extremely good and proud at the moment. I have been working in this industry for almost nine years now, and receiving this honour has pushed me to work even harder,” she says. 

 

There have been no singers in the family before her. How, then, did her passion for singing emerge? “The musical atmosphere at home came about primarily because of all the music that Papa used to bring back home from work. I’ve grown up on the music of the 90s, with songs from Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Sadak and so many more… I used to keep humming these songs when I watched TV and one day, my father overheard me singing. I began learning classical music at the age of seven, when Papa enrolled me into Suresh Wadkar’s institute. And I’m still learning, from Pandit Vinod Mishra now.” 

 

Ask her how the journey of a singer hailing from a family that owns the biggest record label in India is similar to or different from that of a singer who comes in from the outside and she responds, “Honestly, it really wasn’t like I had an easier journey than any other new playback singer. I may have got my first break more easily than other struggling singers, sure, but I don’t think I would have been able to sustain myself for so many years if I wasn’t striking the right chord with my listeners. When I began my Bollywood playback career in 2006, I had already done a lot of devotional albums and remix songs, so I did my share of preparation too. Once (my brother) Bhushan was convinced that my voice had matured enough to qualify me as a playback singer for a movie, he referred me to Anu Malik for my first song, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. Maybe my struggle has been of a different kind, but I had to prove myself to a lot of people. I’m really happy with where I am today and hope to continue working harder to deliver  even more.”