Arpita speaks on songs that changed her career graph as a playback singer

Rourkela-born Arpita Chakraborty has carved a niche for herself as a playback singer in Bollywood with her melodious voice and versatile songs. 

Gifted with an extraordinarily melodious voice and amazingly versatile talent, she may well be called one of the best singers of recent times. She has not only excelled as a playback singer but has experimented with different genres with ease. Apart from rendering voice for Bengali and Telugu movies, Arpita has so far performed in over 1,500 shows in India and abroad.

Arpita is voice behind super hit songs like Paisa Yeh Paisa from the movie Total Dhamaal, Ras ke Bhare Tore Nain from the film Satyagraha, Lori of Death from the film Ragini MMS 2, Paisa Yeh Paisa from the film Total Dhamaal, Khoya Khoya from the film Hero, and Manase Pedavina from the Telugu film Nee Jathaga Nenundali.  

Apart from being conferred with Marathi Chitrapadarpan award and Radio Mirchi Marathi award, she has been felicitated at Rajasthani Film Festival for her song Naina Ri Boli from the movie Mero Badlo and been awarded the Youth Icon Award 2020 in Odisha. Two of Arpita’s songs have been showcased at the Cannes Film Festival 2019 for her Indo-Spanish Film Enredados.  OTV spoke to the singer on a range of issues. Excerpts:

Tell us about your childhood days and how you found your passion for singing in formative years?

I was born in a family where everyone has a connection with music. My mother Guru Tapati Chakraborty was a Hindustani classical exponent. She had a music training institute called ‘Surangana’ in Western Odisha. When I was four, I used to sneak into her music classes quietly and start learning and listening to her along with her students.  I was barely five when I had my first musical performance at an event for the Lions Club and I received a standing ovation by the music connoisseurs and dignitaries present there. That event inspired me to follow my passion which is singing and I was pretty serious about music at that tender age itself. Later, I did my masters in music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Prayagraj.

Which song, according to you, changed the course of your career?

When a singer makes a career breakthrough, he or she develops an image, thanks to the songs that make him strike it big. I am honoured to be the voice of Madhuri Dixit Nene in Total Dhamaal which earned more than Rs 100 crores at the box office. I would consider this a major breakthrough. Without exaggeration, I must say this song gave me a new identity and made me popular overnight. Being in love with style, poise, beauty of Madhuri Dixit, I had to make sure that my singing must reflect that as well. It was a big responsibility, and I could pull it off. I would like to owe credit to the music directors Gourov-Roshin who gave me the opportunity. I am also grateful to the director Indra Kumar and creative director Kookie Gulati for loving my voice and encouraging me.

You must have faced ups and downs in life. How did you deal with them?

I look up to people who never give up in difficult times, and their stories inspire me to keep moving forward no matter what.

Arpita

Do you have any plans to render your voice for Odia films?

I had got a chance to record a couple of songs, composed by Premananda for Anubhav Mohanty’s film Mo Hatha Dhari Chalu Tha in Mumbai. Though I got recorded these songs with Udit Narayan, the songs got replaced and re-recorded by Ira Mohanty once they reached Odisha for some strange reasons I don’t know. However, I am hopeful to work again in Odia film industry as I love Odia language and Odisha’s culture.

What do awards mean to you? 

Awards and recognition give you a boost. But I believe in good work and winning hearts through my voice and awards will follow. I have won several awards, some significant ones in Odisha being The Balakrushna Dash Memorial Award and The Youth Icon of Odisha.

Do you have any godfather to help you achieve stardom?

I wish I had a godfather, but certainly not.  Whatever I am today it is because of my talent, destiny and hard work. These three gives me an insane amount of energy, confidence and satisfaction.

Whom do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to my parents, time, my stars and hard work.