When he recently sang Hari Haran’s song Log Kehte Hain Ajeeb Tum Ho on Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, he received a larger-than-life standing ovation from judges Shankar Mahadevan and Wajid Nadiawala.
After the performance, the third judge, Sajid Nadiawala, said that it seemed as if he was attending a show, not judging a competition, while Rahul Ram was left speechless.
The flawless performances of Jagadhri boy Himanshu Sharma, gave the entire Haryana a reason to be proud. As Himanshu is amongst the top 10 contestants of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, he is leaning on his state, not just love, but also for votes.
Talking about his musical upbringing and journey, Himanshu starts off by saying, “From my grandfather, who was a saxophone player, and my father, who was a music teacher, to uncles, who were freelance musicians, and my maternal grandfather, who was a sarangi player—in everyone’s lives, music has played an essential role. So, my lessons in music started from home, which was followed by learning music from my teachers BT Singh, Dr Shrikhande, Dr Shuchismita and Dr Dinkar Sharma. I owe it all to them.”
Twice the national level winner at youth festivals for light vocal ghazal performances, Himanshu’s forte in singing remains semi-classical, sufi, ghazal and Bollywood music. The winner of Voice of Haryana (2011) is currently he one of the tope 10 contestants of the 1,23,000 who auditioned for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. “My first audition took place in Chandigarh, followed by an audition in Delhi, which got me selected for the mega auditions at Mumbai. Out of the 88 contestants there, only 24 went ahead, including me.
{{/usCountry}}Twice the national level winner at youth festivals for light vocal ghazal performances, Himanshu’s forte in singing remains semi-classical, sufi, ghazal and Bollywood music. The winner of Voice of Haryana (2011) is currently he one of the tope 10 contestants of the 1,23,000 who auditioned for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. “My first audition took place in Chandigarh, followed by an audition in Delhi, which got me selected for the mega auditions at Mumbai. Out of the 88 contestants there, only 24 went ahead, including me.
{{/usCountry}}But, after some internal decisions, only 15 were selected and I was asked to leave. Thanks to the wild card entry, I got the chance to perform again and today, I’m a proud part of the show. So far, I have performed twice on the show and have thankfully received only positive comments,” says he.
But, do these reality shows serve as a good platform? “The show is the place to be for singers. Be it Kamal Khan or Shreya Goshal or Kunal Ganjawala, all of them participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which opened various doors for them.”
So, where does his journey end? “In India, the talent of a singer is judged by the number of songs he has sung for Bollywood. Every singer in India aims only at singing for a movie.”