We tend to undermine our audience: Akriti Kakar

Akriti Kakar's Bollywood tryst began as late as 2004. And while she’s sung for everyone from Himesh Reshmamiya and Pritam to Shankar Ehsaan Loy (SEL), Marjani and Khudaiya Khair (Billu) and later, Abhi Abhi Toh Aaye Ho (Jism 2) count as her biggest hits this far. She’s visibly excited about the prospects of her latest song, Iski Uski from 2 States, an SEL composition that's being quite well received.
You began learning music since age five.How did music take root in your life?
I’ve inherited music. My mother has been a music teacher all her life and that’s exactly where my skills come from. Mom may have been my first guru, but it was Vyomkesh Bannerjee, my first professional guru, who gave me a 360-degree training in music. Unfortunately, we lost him when I was ten. Soon after, my father and I moved to Mumbai, I completed my Grade 12 exams and started learning at Kalyanji-Anandji’s music school.
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Thereafter, you participated in a music talent show...
I did, Sonu (Nigam) ji hosted the show then and has literally seen me, since my ‘frock days’. It was a dream come true getting to sing Dil Vich Lageya Ve from Chup Chup Ke with him.
How did Iski Uski happen?
I have known Shankar Ehsaan Loy since coming to Mumbai. For the first three years of my career, I was the female vocalist for their band and they didn’t just help me during my struggling days, but they also taught me a lot. They’ve heard me sing so often and yet thought, this was one song they thought I hadn’t tried my hand at yet. That’s how Iski Uski landed in my kitty. It’s a fun song with the Iyer girl’s point of view. I didn’t take more than 30 minutes to sing this song and that too without prior intimation. Shankar bhai always suggests singing instinctively, and that’s exactly what I did.
In your career, you’ve sung across genres.
As a singer, I think one has to be versatile. You cannot get stagnant by singing the same type of songs time and again and people around me have been generous enough that way. For instance, Pritam da had so much trust in me that he gave me two completely different songs in Billu, while Marjani was a fun number, Khudaya Khair was a slow romantic melody. Moreover, I started singing fusion, thanks to Silk (Shankar Mahadevan, Sivamani, Louiz Banks and Karl Peters’ Indo-Jazz fusion band).
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That variety and versatility is evident in your live gigs.
I perform live extensively, and it’s not always commercial Bollywood music. I sing a lot of Panchamda’s songs, and go completely unplugged by adding my own twists to them. I also sing ghazals for Symphony, led by Deepak Pandit, where 60 artists travel together and sing for various events. I perform five to six gigs a month and they all range from folk, fusion, commercial, etc.
Is the audience open to non-film music?
We tend to undermine our audiences. I have performed at shows that were supposed to be commercial Bollywood, but turned into Sufi evenings. I still remember while I was performing in Lucknow, there was an eight-year-old girl who came up to me and requested to sing Chaap Tilak. This means there are parents who are raising their kids this way. I’ve sang Nusratji’s Tere Bin Nahi Lagda on request. Live shows do not go the clichéd way these days and younger audiences are the ones helping bring the old times back, which is overwhelming.
Listen to the songs of Akriti Kakar here
What’s next?
I’ve done a collaboration with Rishi Rich and that’ll release sometime in November this year. Then, there’s an album composed by Gurmeet Singh, where Shafqat Amanat Ali, Shazia Manzoor and I have sung together. I’m also quite excited about this Bengali-Hindi album that will be releasing sometime in May this year, with Joy Sarkar who is an awarded playback singer in Tollywood. That’s my way of giving back to the Bengali audience, for all the love they have showered upon me, in spite of being an outsider.
You’ve tried your hand at Marathi songs as well, how was the experience.
Yes, I sang for two movies, Lagna Pahave Karun and Sau Shashi Deodhar. Both the songs were very well accepted. Siddharth (Mahadevan) helped me a lot with getting a grip of the language.
WATCH: The song 'Iski Uski' from the film '2 States'