Now, I can get shows under my name: Shrestha

This 25-year-old vocalist wears many hats and shuffles from classical to rock to folk with equal ease.

- ASHOK CHATTERJEE

Meet Shrestha Das, who made her playback debut with the Bengali film Bohurupi. She delivered three hits, Dakatiya Banshi, Shimul Polash, and Tui Amar Hoe Ja, in the film. The first two are folk tunes, while the third is a love ballad.

Her singing career started early, when she was around eight, when she started taking formal training from guru Sandip Nag. But the knack for singing she got from her grandmother and mother, who would sing at home.

"I had the knack for singing and could sing in tune even without any training," says the singer. She paused her training during her school final years. But the break also helped her make up her mind that she would pursue singing as her career.

"As a child, I loved singing so much that my parents would coax me to study by telling me that I could sing only if I studied. So my motivation to do well in academics came from my love for singing," said Shrestha.

After completing her master's, she got a job as a western vocal singer teaching kids in schools. By this time, she was already performing on stage, singing western numbers. That led her to connect with lots of bands. She also managed to work with seasoned musicians like Sumit Ramachandran, Gabu Chatterjee, Bodhisattva Ghosh, Chirodeep Lahiri, Bonny Chakraborty, Pradyumna Singh Manot (Paddy), etc.

Shrestha is also a songwriter. Her first song, Tomorrow, was in English, while the second one, a psychedelic rock, was in Bengali (Ghoom), which also won her a nomination at FM radio awards.

Though the youngster was carving her niche, her preferences lay somewhere else. "I had made up my mind that I would sing mainstream to reach the masses," she said.

In the meantime, she also collaborated with independent musicians from Bangladesh. She had also dabbled in jazz, blues, funk, soul, R&B, etc., testing her versatility.