She is a sum of industriousness, luck and right choices. Here is Divya S Menon, the voice of a handful of good songs like ‘Anuragam’ from the movie ‘Thattathin Marayathu’ and ‘Thudakkam Mangalyam’ from Bangalore Days and many more. The song ‘Puthumazhay’ from ‘Charlie’ the current trendy movie where Dulquer Salmaan is the protagonist, can be undoubtedly called the canticle of all of it. Though Divya’s version of ‘Puthumazhayay’ the melody, is excluded in the theatres she has been receiving appraisals from music lovers all over the country and abroad.she has been congratulated a lot for balancing the harmony of the movie outside the big screen.
She entered into the music shows in her early twenties leaving the passion of dance behind the shell. Her parents had realized the talent in her to sing and dance when she was a child but never forced her to make a choice between the two. Dancing was her passion during her school days but she had learned music along with it. The TV operas paved the way for this young lady to be a play back singer. Divya has been learning Carnatic Music from the age of 12 years under Smt.Shakunthala Sheshadri, Mr.Sunil and Sri.Mangad Nadessan. She has attained knowledge about Hindustani Classical music under the instructions of Ustad Fiyaz Khan and Sri Dinesh Devdas.
How could singers as anchors in music shows on TV channels contribute to the music industry and to themselves while they themselves get compressed in a particular genre of music?
TV shows that compress the categorized music have their own limitations but I could explore more into that particular area of music and had learned much through it. The spectators would expect better songs and have lots of excellent songs to emphasize on. Choices are less in such classification of programmes but the shows create a need to perform.
The success of a singer is defined on the basis of the unique sublime presentation skills with appropriate expressions that are apt for the situation and is as per the demands of the composers.do u think singing in other languages need more perspiration along with aspirations?
The real perspiration is needed in all languages. One should contemplate him or her into the lines of the music while learning the meaning of wat d scene askes for ! A little more hard work is essential in other languages as the words are totally different. While selecting a voice that matches the movie for a particular situation the director would have a clear vision of presenting that song in a brilliant way through the voice he selected . That must be the reason for our singers getting more opportunities to sing in Kannada, Telugu Tamil and other languages though many versatile singers are present there.
How much are you comfortable in understanding other languages while preparing for singing?
As Malayalam is my mother tongue the lyrics could be easily comprehensible and what the situation exactly demands could be mentioned vividly. Tamil creates a familiarity feel and I am not bad in understanding it . Telugu is totally an unknown language to me and there are less familiar words to even speculate! There would always besome one who isan expert in describing the meaning and situation of the lyrics in Telugu and to assist in learning the pronunciation of words.
How many songs will be ther in urlist if you present yourself as a playback singer?
I have twenty songs in total including the four Telugu songs wich r to be released .
Who was the first to discern the singer in you and how did you turned into music ?
Everyone enjoys music in my family and even my mother is a good singer ! I got the first lessons from her obviously, I started learning music when I was twelve years old along with dance but started working hard on music at the age of 20.
How would you define a Godfather in any industry for a new comer to withstand fierce competitions . Do you have any Godfather?
People are educated on music as there are lots of reality shows on music. They watch such programmes not only to entertain themselves but to learn observing music in a serious manner . I don’t have a Godfather to mention by. I am always grateful to the music director Gopi Sunder for encouraging me to try different category of music as he inspires everyone. He is bold enough to make experiments while molding new talents.
How do you feel about the new song in Charlie for which you shared a platform with the renowned singer Shreya Ghoshal ?
I am really excited with the success of the defined on the basis of the u I consider it a great blessing to share the song with Shreya Ghoshal with all respect. It was a sizeable challenge to me and was really worried at how the listeners would accept it. Many people who are connected to movie have sent good words to me after listening to it.
Perseverance and optimistic words are the key to success for Divya S Menon. Her melodious voice tempted me to dial her phone number once again so that I could listen to’Puthumazhayayi’ which is her caller tune.
Our good wishes will always be with her and we all wish hope that she has a wonderful future ahead..!!
Interview : Sara Sulkunte
