'There must have been some wonderful genetic disorder due to which I was attracted towards filmi songs.'
One of the things that was appreciated in Varun Grover's feature film, All India Rank, was its music, especially the song Noodle Sa Dil.
It is sung by Aditi Paul, who has a bunch of notable songs to her credit, but listeners probably know her best as the voice behind the sensuous song Ang Laga De from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.
"It has been 11 years since Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela released, but it srill feels like yesterday. Fans are still making reels on Ang Laga De and tagging me on social media," Aditi tells Rediff.com Contributor Mohnish Singh.
How was your experience working on Noodle Sa Dil?
It has been fabulous because the kind of songs I had sung so far were little on the classical or semi classical side.
People associate me with that genre.
So this is for the first time that I have sung a disco track, and I loved it.
Actually, the makers were looking for the copyright of the Made In India song by Alisha Chinai.
It is a tribute to that era and that kind of genre. Luckily, I got to sing this song.
Did you have as much fun while recording it as listeners are having listening to it?
I remember the recording day clearly. The composers of the song are Mayukh-Mainak. I have sung for them before.
Once they had asked me if I would like to do a song of this genre.
I did a bit of a research and heard a few of Nazia Hassan songs for the technicalities, and the kind of sur they would use in disco songs.
Then I sang it.
Now, I am getting so many messages on Instagram, especially from youngsters.
Disco is something which was played in the '80s and the '90s. Now, it's the era of hip-hop. Still, they are loving it.
You have worked with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.
It has been 11 years since Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela released, but it srill feels like yesterday.
Fans are still making reels on Ang Laga De and tagging me on social media.
This was a very soft song on the album, so it did not get much hype in the beginning. It got its due later.
Working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir has been amazing.
I was in awe when I first met him.
He had come to the sets of Indian Idol as a guest judge. His film Black was about to release then.
Watch Aditi sing Ang Laga De from Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.
He is known to be a very strict film-maker. Is he also a strict composer?
Honestly, I have never seen him on sets. As far as the recording experience is concerned, I would say no.
He was more like a teacher.
He would just say, 'Maybe you could sing in this way and just imagine how Lata Mangeshkarji would sing this line.'
The brief for Ang Laga De was that just like Lag Ja Gale, there is this longing in the song and in addition to that, there is a certain kind of innocence also.
He said, 'They want to meet and become one. This is the night they are getting married and they will be spending time together and it's their first time of togetherness, of a beautiful journey and innocence.'
Was Ang Laga De Re your first Bollywood song?
For a big banner, yes.
But before that, I sang a song in a film called Rann starring Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and Kichcha Sudeep. It was a Ram Gopal Varma film.
It was a montage song and picturised on Amitji's sequences.
I was shuttling between Kolkata and Bombay back then.
After I moved here, I took Urdu classes to tone down my Bengali accent.
Now, I am way better at Hindi.
Watch Aditi Paul sing Noodle Sa Dil from All India Rank.
Noodle Sa Dil is a tribute to Alisha Chinai. Have you met her?
I met Alisha Chinai only once.
It was during the promotions for Indian Idol 3. She was one of the judges.
She is a diva, of course.
Who were your favourite singers growing up?
I grew up in Santiniketan, and studied there.
I come from a middle-class Bengali family and my parents wanted me to become an academician.
I was not allowed to sing or listen to any film song, irrespective of the language.
We used to live in a joint family.
There was a television in our uncle's house and there would be this show called Chitrahaar.
Because my parents were working, I would watch it before they reached home.
I discovered Kishore Kumar through my older brother. He used to listen to songs of Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey...
There must have been some wonderful genetic disorder due to which I was attracted towards filmi songs.
I love film songs. I love Bollywood songs.
How did your participation in the first season of Indian Idol help your singing career?
That shaped my career because when I participated in it, I was not into Hindi singing. I was so new to Hindi as a language.
There was also a gender problem; I could not differentiate between 'ki' and 'ka.'
The pronunciation was another issue.
So all these issues were there, but Indian Idol gave me a name.
Having said that, when I started my recordings, I had to start from scratch.
I made my demo of two original songs, composed by my Guruji Bhavdeep Jaipurwale and I started circulating them.
That's how I started my journey in jingles.
Then Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ramleela happened.
Do you remember your first pay cheque?
I started with background music. There was this film called Main Aurr Mrs Khanna (2009), starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
This was the second I think. I forgot the first project for which I got my first pay cheque.
I think was for about Rs 5,000.
But before that, ICICI Bank had opened accounts for the top 10 contestants of Indian Idol.
Each one of us got a cheque of Rs 25,000.
