We see so many music artists from reality shows coming up everyday. Some of them have made it big by becoming playback singers in the music industry. This list includes some of the most famous playback singers today including Shreya Ghoshal & Sunidhi Chauhan. Bhavya Pandit is one such singer in this list. She started off with Indian Idol 4 which served as the platform for her for playback singing. With over 11,000 fans on facebook, over 1.5 million hits on youtube, Bhavya Pandit is one of the more socially active playback singers. We interview her as she talks about her life since Indian Idol 4, her viewpoints on Independent Music and as she shares some of the intense moments in her career & social life, we hope you enjoy learning from her experience.
Bhavya Pandit
How has your life changed since Indian Idol 4?
Indian Idol 4 was the first big platform that I stepped on. From doing small-scale stage shows, I was suddenly subjected to the affection of millions of viewers. So, life definitely changed post Indian Idol. I even landed my first playback in “What’s Your Raashee” one day after my elimination. The break was given to me by Javed Saab, who was on our jury. I’m boundlessly grateful to Idol and Sony for providing me my first exposure!
With new musical reality shows coming up every year, do you think it has had an impact on playback singing?
Reality shows are giving way to a lot of fresh talent which is being discovered by composers and that’s naturally affecting the playback scene in a positive way. Reality shows are a great medium for people like me who have no contacts in the industry otherwise. These shows make one’s talent visible to the who’s who of Tinsel Town, providing the introductory push.
How do you physically, emotionally, and mentally prepare before recording a song?
I do my ‘Riyaz’ on a regular basis so my throat is generally ready for most recordings. But if there’s some special effort required (say, diction for a regional song or working on my texture for a specific song), then I spend extra time looking into those aspects. Mentally, I just keep calm prior to a recording. My life outside the studio doesn’t matter once I step inside. It’s all about the song from that moment on.
Who did you listen to while growing up? Who are your favorite singers and why?
Ashaji has been my greatest musical influence throughout. She’s the most versatile artist that I have ever come across and versatility is the one aspect that I respect the most is any artist (not just singers). Everyone can be a hero in their comfort zone alone. It takes something special to champion the other dimensions. Apart from Ashaji, I love and listen to a wide repertoire of artists like Girija Devi, Shobha Gurtu, Shreya Ghoshal, Norah Jones, Sara Bareilles, Rekha Bhardwaj, Coldplay… It is such a mixed bag, really. It is difficult to point out one genre as such.
How has your music tastes changed since growing up?
As a child, I mostly just listened to old Hindi film songs and some Hindustani Classical. However, as I grew up, many more categories kept joining in (like my previous answer shows). At this point, I love everything from Indian Classical music to Classic Rock, Ghazals to Jazz, Bollywood to Pop. So, my tastes have widened, as have my musical influences.
How do you connect with your fans? Are you a heavy tweeter :=D ?
I am extremely, ridiculously and hyperly active on FB! 
I’m accessible and available on Follow Bhavya. I’m also available on Twitter on the handle @BhavyaPandit. Looking to be more active there…
Do you have any embarrassing moment, you’re willing to share, when you first starting singing?
Oh dear, I could write an entire thesis on my embarrassing moments. So many flaps happen on stage all the time, nobody is perfect. The important thing is, these should be concealed from one’s audience as best as possible! There was this one time when I forgot the Lyrics of a particular song on stage and made up my own lyrics on the spot. It was just a line or so so most people didn’t notice it. Those who did, appreciated my presence of mind later. So all in all, it wasn’t a bad experience at all.
What do you think is the most important aspect of a song?
I worship melody and technical perfections in terms of pitching (Sur). Having said that, it is crucial to do justice to the lyrics of a well-written song. One must breathe life into what would just be words otherwise.
What do you think makes a song successful or not successful?
Frankly, I don’t dwell on the success of a song before singing it. I just do my job and then hope for good results. One shouldn’t carry the baggage of producing hits at all times. It’s important to have conviction in what you do.
Who is your favourite actor? How has movies & musicials affected your singing styles?
At this point, I would have to say Ranveer Singh is my absolute favorite actor! He has simply everything that it takes. I’m honestly not a huge films buff I listen to the songs all the time. So film Music has definitely affected my “musicality”. I mean, as someone who’s never been in love but has to sing songs about the same all the time, it helps that I’ve heard a great deal of songs. Emoting becomes easier.
What are your future projects?
I have a playback song coming up in “Lucky Kabootar” (starring Eijaz song). It’s a superfun Punjabi track with Mika Paaji again. I’m really excited. A couple of more songs for untitled projects, including a Hindi version of an Arabic track! I’ve got some cover songs coming up for Youtube and I also plan to produce my originals very soon. These are busy times and I’m loving them!
How important is independent music today? The scenario in India has always been people listening to more to conventional movie songs rather than independent music. With reality shows like Dewarists, Coke Studio, MTV Unplugged coming up, how has it impacted the singers & the people?
I am so glad for this question! Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love and respect independent Musicians and I hope to be one myself in the near future. Bollywood is amazing and I’ll always keep singing for Movies as long as I’m privileged to land these songs but my career will be incomplete without an enormous dose of independent Music. I want to do so much in areas like Classical-Rock and Classical-Jazz fusion amongst others. As for shows like Unplugged and Coke Studio, they’re such a breath of fresh air. Even if I miss the telecast on TV, I catch it all later online. A special shoutout to Coke Studio Pakistan for being consistently mindblowing for so many years now.
Any message to your fans out there?
Thanks for your support, everyone! Lookout for some non-film Music in the near future and do connect with me. I’d love to share my feeds with you guys and I’m managing my social media presence myself so it’s totally personal.
What do you think about Musicperk.com?
You guys are doing such a great job, enlightening Music lovers about Artists across genres and encouraging Music across spectrums. Then of course, you’re interviewing me so you’re that much more amazing. Just kidding. Keep up the amazing work. All the best wishes for you all!
Some shoutout :
My Mom: For bring crazier about my Music more than me and being unbelievably supportive at all times. Dad and Bhai (my brother Aalok) too for being such sweethearts and putting up with my moodswings forever.
My Guruji: Pt. Prabhakar Karekar for training me patiently over the years and encouraging my light Music aspirations despite being a Hindustani Classical stalwart.
Himmesh Reshammiya Sir: For giving me my first blockbuster hit in Son of Sardaar!
Studio Unplugged (Jai-Parthiv): For choosing me to sing Pani da Rang lounge version, which is over 1.5 million hits strong as of today and many songs thereafter.