Indian American singer Shilpa Raj’s debut Malayalam song ‘Sharadambaram‘ becomes a super hit

Interview with the UMBC senior.

AB Wire

A song by Indian American singer Shilpa Raj in the blockbuster Malayalam movie Ennu Ninte Moideen has become a huge hit. Different videos of the song have attracted more than 3 million views on YouTube.

Music for the song Sharadambaram was composed by the popular musician Ramesh Narayan. The Maryland native sang the song along with the legendary Malayalam singer P. Jayachandran.

Moideen, which was produced by her dad Suresh Raj, and fellow Indian Americans Binoy Shankarath and Ragy Thomas, has become one of the most watched movies in Malayalam film industry’s history.

Raj, a senior at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, recently spoke to The American Bazaar about her debut performance.

You sang Sharadambaram with the legendary singer Jayachandran, and worked with composer Ramesh Narayan on the song. How was the experience?

It was a great experience. It was different; I have never done it before—being in the studio and working with Ramesh uncle [Narayan], it was really very nice.

The movie Ennu Ninte Moideen was produced by your dad. How was it working with dad?

It was different, knowing someone in there was definitely different but I think it was nice. It was good to have someone there.

Malayalam is not your first language. Did you practice the song a lot?

I practiced a lot, just because the words were a little difficult for me. But in the studio Ramesh Uncle [Narayan] and, there was one another person there who helped me a lot with it. So that was good for me because I had a lot of trouble.

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Walk us through the recording process…

Well I had the song to listen to, and then I can’t read Malayalam so I had written it in Manglish, so I had that to read off and Ramesh Uncle [Narayan] would help me with the pronunciation, I had to listen to it a lot as well to get the pronunciation properly.

Was Sharadambaram your first Malayalam recording?

Yeah, it was my first song. I don’t tend to sing Malayalam that much, because the language is kind  of tricky for me.  And yes, it was my first song.

Has your life changed after the release of the movie?

It hasn’t changed but it’s a little different. People definitely come up to me now and say it is such a good job and it is different than it used to be but It is a good change.

How long have you been singing and performing?

I have been singing since I was 3 year or 4 years old but I started performing when I was ten years old. Ever since then I sing. I have been taking classes since I was ten as well. I took Carnatic classes, I take Hindustani classes, I also sing American music. So there is a little bit of everything.

Are you considering music as a career option?

Yes, it’s something I really want to do it. I enjoy doing it and I would love to continue doing it for the rest of my life.

Do you write, or compose songs?

I don’t write, I do some covers of different songs, English songs and Hindi songs all those things.

Any music videos?

Music videos, nothing coming up right now. I do have a YouTube channel that’s where I upload my English and Hindi covers.

You go to University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Tell us about school…

I am a senior at UMBC and I study media and communication with entrepreneurship and English minor so almost finishing up with that, that’s what I am doing right now.

You are hosting a dance competing at UMBC. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

I am a co-director of an organisation Charm City Raas. It’s a … Raas and Garba competition and 2016 will be the third year of running it, we are really looking forward to a lot.  We are planning it right now and getting it together.

A lot of young, talented Indian Americans would like to try their luck in Indian movies. What advice would you give them?

I think so. I just think people shouldn’t be afraid to try. And India, being in India for a long time, was a different experience. It’s not the same as being in America. It’s something you can do, anybody can do and I think anyone should go for it.