MADHURI DIXIT'S DEBUT ALBUM 'THE FILM STAR' ON THE WAY

THE STAR ACTOR AND DANCER, WHO ALSO FOUND HER WAY INTO CONTENT CREATION, RECENTLY RELEASED 'TU HAI MERA,' A SONG DEDICATED TO HER FANS

- Anurag Tagat

WHEN THE PANDEMIC led several actors and celebrities to try and show their support through songs, Madhuri Dixit's debut English song "Candle" from 2020 was among the more genuine, heartfelt tributes to frontline covers trying to fight the spread of Covid-19. It's an entirely different matter that the track wasn't written during the pandemic.

"Candle" as well as her latest single "Tu Hai Mera" had their origins in 2016 and 2017, when the seasoned Bollywood actor and dancer met with Indian-origin music industry veteran Sat Bisla (best known for his work in radio, A&R and music business). Dixit recalls, "He asked me to sing for him and he said, 'Oh my god, you have a voice. You should sing."" Further back, Dixit says her husband Shriram Nene, was among the first ones to nudge her towards singing as a means of further connecting with her fanbase.

Even as a music team was being put together - one that included rapper and songwriter Raja Kumari, well before she made it to India herself Dixit insisted she didn't just want to sing someone else's previously penned songs. Now, a six-track album, called The Film Star, is expected to release song by song throughout this year. "I wanted to do something that was mine... something original." She began taking vocal lessons from Los Angeles-based coach Ron Anderson before she went into the studio, creating music with Raja Kumari, Narinder Singh and others. "I worked hard for this. It's not that I just suddenly decided to sing one day. There's a lot of thought that went into it," Dixit says.