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Mithila Palkar: I have been learning the ukulele for 7 years
In an exclusive photoshoot, Mithila Palkar talks about her love for music, learning the ukulele and how monsoon and music go hand-in-hand.
“Monsoon and music have a strong connect and I love them both,” says Mithila Palkar, a music aficionados, who admits that she always talks about music “to the extent of becoming borderline irritating”.
The actor adds, “During monsoon, I visit my nani’s home quite often, sit on a swing as it rains, put on my headphones and listen to music for hours. I find it meditative. I also get inspired to sing as it rains, and love how my nani cooks some amazing pakoras and bhajiyas.”
The actor has been spending a lot of time honing her ukulele-playing skills. “I always wanted to learn an instrument. While I wanted to learn the sitar, I thought of starting with the ukulele, which is also a string instrument,” she says, adding, “I have been learning it for almost seven years. My house has a music room and my maasa recently gifted me the keyboards too. I do the riyaaz everyday and find it very meditative. I am a self-taught musician and I enjoy doing that. The internet has played a role in my journey as someone learning music. I learnt playing the cups on the internet too.”
Sharing how love for music developed, Palkar says, “My father introduced me to music. He’s a die-hard music lover. He would sing while putting me to sleep. The culture of music has been in my house since I was a baby. My maternal grandfather played the tabla, flute and other instruments. So, music runs in the family.”
The 30-year-old, who has had a couple of releases, wishes “to learn music formally”. Sharing how her co-stars responded to her love for music while shooting for different projects, Palkar says, “I am always singing, even when I’m on the set. When we were working together on a project, my Marathi co-actor Amey Wagh would get annoyed and say, ‘Rolling bolne tak tum gaati hi rehti ho! Mujhe to focus karne do’.”
She adds, “Also, when I was shooting for Karwaan (2018), Irrfan sir (late actor) would call me Binaca Geetmala. He would look for me when I wasn’t around, as I was his source of entertainment on set. DQ (actor Dalquer Salmaan) called me a jukebox. He would tell me what to sing.”
A lover of “Hindustani and Carnatic classical music”, the Ori Devuda (2022) actor is “yet to delve deep into western classical”. She adds, “I remember while growing up, I would wait for cassettes of MS Subbulakshmi (Carnatic singer) that my maasi would get from the US.”
Talking about her favourite kind of music, Mithila shares, “I really like retro Marathi and Hindi music. My favourite vocal combinations are Mohammed Rafi-Asha Bhosle and Sonu Nigam-Shreya Ghoshal. Of late, thanks to the internet, I have discovered so many artistes from across the world and I enjoy listening to music from different cultures.”
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