As soon as the MMI-event PR-person introduces me to her, Shreya Ghoshal exclaims, “Oh, but we have already spoken before! Wasn’t that about the Fareb-song?” I am pleasantly surprised by her memory recall because that telephonic conversation was almost three months back. With her pleasant nature and typically Bengali good looks, Shreya totally bowls me over. This slender, dusky singer who in her sweet melodious voice has been regularly belting hits like Bairi Piya, Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai and Kiska Hai Yeh Tumko Intezar is very candid and eloquent about her career and state of contemporary music. Long after the formal interview gets over, we keep chatting about past, present and future of Hindi film music. Here are the excerpts of this conversation.

What do you feel when superb songs like Teri Aankhon Se (Dhoop) and Suna Suna (Krishna Cottage) don’t get noticed, thanks to flop movies?