She is young, good-looking and confident- and yes, she sings very well, too. Sneha Pant represents the new face of female playback singing in Bollywood. Her songs like On The Roof In The Rain and Sainya Dil Mein Aana Re have been lately ruling the charts and making regular rounds on music channels. Recently she had been in Dubai to perform in Rimjhim Bhagchandani- organized Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas- the Kalyanji –Anandji musical nite, when I met up with her to chat about her career and aspirations. Here are the excerpts of our back-stage conversation.

My first important musical milestone was the music competition I won in Delhi as a child. Composer Anandji was the judge for the event and so impressed was he that he told my parents to come to Mumbai to meet his brother- composer Kalyanji. When Kalyanji heard me, he advised me to shift base to Mumbai with my mother and I became a part of Kalyanji- Anandji’s Little Wonders music- troupe. We did shows all over the world.

From Kalyanji and Anandji, I not only learnt the finer points of playback singing and stage performances but I also learnt a lot about life, especially about how to keep a steady head on my shoulders. Side by side, I also learnt Indian classical music. All this training in my formative years gave me enough confidence to tackle any kind of a song.

Winning mega- finals of the famous Zee TV- music competition Saregama gave me initial fame. The Mangeshkar- sisters Ushaji and Meenaji were the judges for the mega-final and the whole winning experience was wonderful.

In 1999, only after my pappa left Delhi to join us in Mumbai, I ventured out to seek playback singing opportunities. The Yaadein- song Aye Dil Dil Ki Duniya Mein was my first break in films. Composer Anu Malik had initially chosen me to render that song just as a back-up version and Alka Yagnik was originally supposed to be singing that song.

At the recording, I was pretty nervous, singing in front of people like Subhash Ghai, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor and that nervousness showed in that effort. Yet Subash-ji liked the innocence in my voice and felt that it would suit Kareena’s screen character well. So the song finally remained in the film.

Like all singers, I have grown up admiring songs of Lata Mangeshkar and I feel, no one will achieve what she did in her career. Sometimes, just singing her songs makes up for my riyaaz. Yet, even though I wholeheartedly admire Lataji and Ashaji, I have always tried not to copy their styles.

I have sung remixes like Sainya Dil Mein Aana Re and Chhod Do Aanchal- which have been huge hits. Remix- success has brought in more live show-offers for me than my hit film- songs. In a way, it is a product of present times and it also revives memories of old music. I don’t defend the way their videos are picturised. Any song should sound good to ears and that’s what I try to achieve.

Barring Rahman, I have worked with every major composer in the industry. They are all very talented but today, a singer doesn’t really get an opportunity to work long on a particular song. Sometimes we finish recording the song within just half an hour. Everything has become very fast- m