Humming with Soham

Singer Soham Chakraborthy speaks to Reema Gehi about Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and his big break in Bollywood.

With Dhoom 2’s Dil lagana and Hattrick’s Kahan kho gayaa hai, Soham Chakraborthy is geared up for the release of the music of Anurag Basu’s Metro.
He says that he features as a part of a rock band in the film and has contributed two songs.

Like several singers, he came to the city to realise his tinsel dreams. After winning the Sa Re Ga Ma contest 1998, the next logical step was to come to Mumbai from Kolkata.

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In 2002, Soham parked himself in Mumbai and since then he has sung several jingles including those for Emami, Star One and a Dubai radio channel’s jingle.

The 28-year-old singer points out that music composer Pritam is his mentor who gave him his first break. Aditya Chopra went with Pritam and so Dil lagana happened.

Whenever Pritam is doing a film, Soham receives a call. The singer believes, “In Hattrick, my voice went very well with Kunal Kapoor’s. I’ve always tried to be young and peppy and of course, it has been .. vital to get over the slight Bengali accent which I had for a while.

“Training in Indian classical music did the trick..plus, I have grown up listening to Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Language is no barrier really I have sung in 13 different languages including Marathi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Punjabi and Bengali.”

The singer who has playbacked for Hrithik Roshan, Uday Chopra and Ravi Kissen, states, “I like Shaan and KK but I love Sonu Nigam..he has explored all the genres of music.”

Incidentally Soham had recorded songs for Garam Masala but was dubbed over by KK and Sonu Nigam.

“I feel every singer goes through the grind. I don’t mind this at all..but there’s no doubt that filmmakers are somewhat averse to new crooners. Some day maybe this will change..it has to.”

A disciple of Mohammed Sagiruddin Khan and Jayant Bose, Soham now lives with his parents in Kandivli.