Shreya Sharma Exclusive Interview

“The Coffee was not hot!” says Shreya Sharma, the singer of The Prada Song and Ladka Baiman

The song is about realizing your true worth when you’re in a a relationship or a job where you are undervalued and you finally start seeing that you’re meant for something better and walk out of the place and be fine with it. It’s about moving on and gaining strength from things that break you but you don’t give up and come out of it even stronger.

How did your musical journey started?

My musical journey started when I was a child. My mom got me a musical teacher who was visually impaired and as he didn’t have the idea of how small my hands were, he would sometimes hold it a little hard while teaching me harmonium. I remember telling my mom that maybe I cannot do this but at that time my mother said that one day you will thank me for this, she always felt that I was good at it.

I started classical when I was around four years old. Then around, 18 I went to New York and  trained for the opera. After interning a bit, I returned to India. I had training in both classical and opera so after that it was just about figuring out my own artistry as a musician. I started with jingles and my youtube channe. I slowly got into shows and then Prada happened to me.

It’s been a long journey from where I started. I remember practicing for hours and also remember being rejected a lot number of times  which almost destroyed my motivations but somehow, I pushed through it. The shows helped a lot in boosting my confidence. The journey has been great.

What was your reaction when The Prada Song became a hit?

I and my family were all sitting together looking at our phones, seeing the views go up. We saw it go up to one million and celebrated and we started taking bets and then 24 hours later, it went up to 5 million. I wasn’t able to think straight and I remember waking up to thousands of messages in the morning. It was so exciting. Honestly it still feels surreal when it plays and I get excited like a little child.

How was your experience with “Ladka Baiman”?

We actually came up with this idea while jamming and Ladka Baiman just felt like a catchy line. Then we started to record it, the song is mostly about disgust and allowing oneself to move and and realizing that one is meant for something better. It was really fun.

Also if someone wants to know, the coffee that I threw on the actor’s face was not hot!

The shoot experience was exhaustive as it was shot over 20 hours. It was my first time being in the shoot so I was very camera conscious but the whole set was encouraging me throughout the shoot. Also my best friend and make-up artist Arleen Gonsalves truly had my back at that time.

What is your most memorable experience?

One of the most memorable experiences that I have is that of meeting Alia Bhatt. She was really nice to me and she helped me out when I was nervous. I also got to enter her van and be the part of everything. I also remember going to the after party and meeting well known people there. It was heartwarming to see that people who I used to look up to are actually responding to my work and that was really an amazing feeling.

Who are your inspirations?

I look up to Ariana Grande, Shakira and Rihana. I am also inspired by Alisha Chinai and Neha Bhasin. I really love Sunidhi Chauhan. All of them really molded me to become who I am today.

What kind of music do you love to sing and dance to?

I love Bollywood music, I love R‘n’G pop, Latin pop and 90’s music like sona kitna sona hai.

What advice do you have for the artists?

The only advice is that hang in there because dreams do come true, if I can do it then anyone can do it.

What was your biggest struggle?

My biggest struggle was my mental health. I was very hesitant to start my youtube channel and I was really scared to be on the internet. I didn’t have my family with me. So I used to push myself and move out of the house at least two times a day, I used to go to the gym or meet new people and tried to find my motivation and eventually I got out of it.

On a casual note, we heard that you were a Potterhead, and here we have a question for you. If you could spend a day watching any two characters spend time together, whom would you like to see and why?

I have two favourites. One is Ron and Hermione, I just want to see them fight and spend time as a married couple. The other one would be, Snape and Harry, I would love to see them interact. I want to see them make peace and see that interaction.

And if you could be any one character in the movie, who would you choose to be?

I would love to be Hermione Granger as I would love to be that cool and that knowledgeable but let’s be honest… I can never be Hermione as she is too smart for that. So I think I would love to be Luna as she has this weird and cool vibe going around her. She is really interesting and cool and I would love to be her.

What new projects are you working on?

I have worked on a song called ‘Tera Nasha’ and also a couple of more tracks and I am trying to experiment with different genres. Tera Nasha will be launched around the end of 2020 another song will be launched by in 2021, that song is about falling in love and it will remind you about your first love. The best way to describe ‘Tera Nasha’ is those butterflies that you get when you see the person you love.