Detangle with Sireesha Bhagavatula

You probably know her for her super hit melodies like Ghode Pe Savar and Fero Na Najar Se Najariya . We have with us Sirisha Bhagwatullah . Welcome to Retangle , Sirisha .

So me and my sister . My sister is also a singer , she is Saujanya Bhagwatula . So we both have started quite early . I think even before my schooling , I was made to join into music classes . How nice . So , yeah , I think at the age of three and a half and my sister was seven . So that's when we started learning music .

And also at home there was this musical environment . My grandfather , of course , used to teach us , and my father sings and he also plays keyboard . My mom is extremely , you know , interested in music and my grandmother is also very , very she has a musical ear , and my aunties , they , have done diploma in and vocals . So we have quite a musical family .

But nobody has taken it professionally . It's only me and my sister who have , you know , started this journey , and it's quite beautiful .

We still get inspired from my grandfather , but other than that , professionally , I think I get inspired every day from the lot of artists that I meet . So it will be unfair if I take just a single name . So , right from Lata ji , shreya Ghoshal , arijit Singh , you know , sunu Nigamji , there are a lot of artists that inspire me , and also my co-artists .

Yeah , how nice . I know that you work with the best in the business and you've had some super hits very early in your career , but has this made your path easier , or do you think it has added the weight of expectations , now that you've already given such beautiful songs ?

I have to , you know , do 100% justice and the rest will follow . So I've never dreamt that I would work with AR Rahman sir , ila Raja sir , and I would get to sing my Bollywood debut for Amit Trivedi sir . So it's all it just happened .

So only thing that I dreamt of is I should be in music , my day should start with music and my day should end with music . That is the only thing , only thing I hope , even now . So , now that there are few hit songs in my you know bio , so definitely it might lead that I am expecting something more , yeah , something like that .

But I have been in that phase as well , so when I had a lot of pressure on myself that what next ? What's the next ? But now I think the only thing that is in my control is to do 100% justice to what I'm given , and the rest is in God's hands , and I totally believe that how wonderful .

At the same time , what original music that we are bringing , what impact it will have on the music industry on the whole . So these are the few things that I'm currently obsessed with how nice .

I've read it somewhere that if you practice an art for 10 000 hours , it'll you know , yes , you'll be very skilled at it , yeah . So I started writing it and I really lost account after some time because obviously things are not the same . Every day is not the same . So I miss it out on some day . Then I'll be on that FOMO , okay .

So then I understood that it's all a vicious cycle so we have to come out of it . And also , I've read somewhere I think APJ Abdul Kalam's book , or I'm not sure about it only after half an hour or one hour of doing something you will actually get into that thing .

So if you actually practice for half an hour , it doesn't mean that you are 100% focused on it . Only after half an hour you'll half an hour . It doesn't mean that you are 100% focused on it . Only after half an hour you start focusing more . So the initial half an hour is a buffer , oh , but you experience that you feel more focused ?

I did not even mattering later on , because that's the kind of focus you should be dedication , you should have discipline and all of that counts .

So , yeah , I started observing a lot of change in my voice , my singing style , after doing that , but I'm I should be honest , I couldn't continue it for a long time due to several reasons , because , again , we have to work as well , right , yeah .

So you know , for all this work , what is the most difficult part physically , emotionally which is that one part that you really struggle with I think music is something that makes you happy and sad at the same time .

Sometimes , while singing , I just look into someone's eyes and the kind of happiness , the energy that they transfer is like the most beautiful thing .

And after that , immediately after we finish the show and come back to my hotel room or wherever , it's just the four walls and me , of course , I'm not talking about the family we finish a show and come back to my hotel room or wherever boom , it's just the four walls and me , of course , like I'm not talking about the family , but when I'm to myself , I

would actually get that low . I would go to that lowest low . So I think every musician feels that it's just energy difference . So that is something I've always been curious Okay , why is it happening so ? Later I understood that that's how it is for every musician and that is one thing . And when you ask , physically , what is tiring ?

Definitely it should be travel . It's so much fun . Travel is so much fun . At the same time , it's extremely tiring and stressful when you have to perform , you have to catch that flight , right , yeah . So all the stress , and also on the show day , I'll be totally , you know , in that vulnerable state .

If there is a show in the evening , from morning I'll be anxious about how it's going to be , what are my paths and all of that . So it's fun , yet you know stressful .

I mean you can actually physically start feeling it as headaches , as fatigue , as difference in energy , but you've just described it so simply that it's easy for people to understand what artists now go through . So , like you said , you know music is beautiful , music is heartbreaking all at once .

So , as a listener , music can move me very physically , but you also get affected when you're singing a sad song or a very moving song . Do you well up sometimes ?

So the first time I entered everything was new . I'm given a brief about the concept Like she's a playback singer , like she's a playback singer , she's not a playback singer , it's her first playback song . So that's how I should sing , not completely a professional , kind of a little bit of immature-ish singing . It should be .

At the same time , it should be perfect enough that it should make to a movie . So that was a brief which was given . And Perona Najaria , on the other hand sorry , I was talking about Gode Pe Sava , that was a brief For Perona Najaria I was told that I have to impress my mother , right , yeah ?

So when I was singing that song I literally , you know , lost myself . And also it was recorded live with all the instruments . So it was a surreal feeling . This kind of recording used to happen 40 years before , like when there was no advancement in the technology then . So that's how they used to record right All the instruments and the singer together .

So that's the kind of experience that I got in this generation . So I'm extremely grateful , and when I was recording I literally , after singing the Perunanajariya last line , I literally cried and I could see everybody in the studio standing up and clapping for me , and even Tripti ma'am and Anvita ma'am , everybody had tears in their eyes .

So music can do something to you . You just , you know , have to let it do to you . That's the thing I felt , so you should not have barriers . Okay , music , the song is different from me . If you keep it like that , it's very difficult to get into a song . So you have to internalize the song and then it will do magic .

So , yeah , there are a lot of times that I get affected with sad song . Especially , there is a song called Mujhe Chodke Kyo Gaye by Shreya Ghoshal ma'am , and Hariharan sir has also sung that and especially this Raag called Charu Kesh . Really , you know , hits my heart in a way that that cannot be explained .

You know , it was that energy behind the song that I reached out to people . I had no idea who you were , I had no idea where you were , but the song was so powerful that it connected us .

He would if at all he's there in the studio he'd be like hey , sirisha , how are you ? Then I'll feel okay , wow , he remembers my name . The little things add up Exactly . And also every time I hear audience cheering up for me .

And one more thing of all the songs , my family is extremely supportive and but they've never particularly , you know , praised both of us , me and up , me and my sister . They wouldn't praise us for each and every release or every song , so they would just be happy for us . They'll keep sharing it .

But when I went to my house after kala's release , my father was humming one of the songs from kala , so that is when I was , you know , really touched . Okay , now , this is an achievement how nice .

I went to Bahrain , I think , and there was a family who literally came to me after the show and they were sharing their experience of how , how art changed their lives . So initially , that family there was wife and husband and daughter . So the husband apparently lost his job due to some reasons and he was in a very bad phase .

So they used to play continuously , all loop , every day , and somehow that uplifted their mood , it seems , and he came out of that depression and now he's doing extremely well in his new job . So here he wouldn't I mean he doesn't need to mention that to me and give credits to me , but still he did which shows how music can move people and change lives .

So I felt extremely grateful how empowering truly empowering this is . Yeah , so of course it's not at all my credit , but still it's so sweet of them to mention that to me .

So maybe if we can change that and I have to mention here , recently we have released I mean , one of my friends released a song , a retro vibe song , and it has picked up quite well on the internet now . So it's just that we have to put in efforts to bring back the beauty and we should never blame that audiences listening to this kind of music .

Whatever we give , they'll consume . So it's on us to work on the kind of music that we are releasing . So maybe , if we can , we all can together change it . The golden era of music will be back again .

So I think feel is beyond everything , and that is what bringing life to the song means Just giving the song the right amount of feel that it requires that it touches the audience's heart .

So I'm glad that I've had a lovely support from people around me which didn't let me get dejected for anything . So I remember one of the reality shows I got eliminated and I was asked to speak and I said I've learned my mistakes and I feel I've won this show .

So that is the ultimate goal that yesterday you might be the winner of the biggest show but next day you have you're starting from zero . So if you just carry that forward and go ahead , it's not gonna work . So I would absolutely say don't take the reality shows um result very seriously , but the journey is what what made me .

So take that seriously and try to work on your goals . Very beautifully put , thank

you .

So keeping your passion on one hand and maintaining the business side of it on the other hand is extremely difficult because they're always contradicting every time . So your heart says something , but your mind says no , this is totally wrong . So to maintain a balance without losing the integrity , try to touch people's hearts with your music .

At the same time , make money out of it just because you can invest more and bring more music to people . So that maybe these techniques or you know , there is a lot to learn . We are still working on it . Maybe if I would have known earlier , it would . There is a lot to learn . We are still working on it .

Maybe if I would have known earlier , it would have saved a lot of time and effort , but still , it's a long way to go . Even now , I think , yeah , that is something that I would have wished , and also a lot of techniques that I learned during Indian Idol .

Like I said , the coaches have taught beautiful ways to learn , so if I would have known earlier , yeah , but nevertheless , no regrets . How ?

So everyday I would wake up and start playing Airy Pawan or Vorbhai , and of course you'll get you'll get a direction for the entire day . So that is one thing I'm really , you know , trying to follow every day . So it's just the music that inspires how nice .

So instead of waiting for inspiration to find you , you go ahead and start your day with inspiration oh , and it makes a lot of difference , and I've also seen the days when I simply wouldn't start my day with music and it goes waste I agree , some people need a workout , some people need inspiration .

But for somebody at your age to have done so much and yet learning all the time , performing all the times the very fresh perspective , you know you're not jaded , you're not set in stone , you're malleable , you're growing and that's just so , so beautiful thank you .

experiential learning . Yeah , so , sirisha , mental health has deteriorated all over consistently with the advent of social media . You're quite active on social media yourself , but how do you draw a line and not get stuck in this rut ?

So now I'm slowly getting to draw a line where I do whatever is required for social media . At the same time , I wouldn't miss out on what I have to do in a day , for example , if I have to work out , if I have to practice .

So first I'll put up a schedule where I finish all that off , then I'm a bit confident and then I'll start working on the content side of it . Yeah , just posting photos so as to engage people , and , you know , posting the photos along with my song , so that it's a two-way right . So my song , but also being active , so these kind of things .

I've started finding out and making covers of my own songs , which are not very well received , so that it would , you know , create an impact . You reinvent yourself , yeah , right . So yeah , it's a constant struggle , I think . But see , I'm still nothing . I'm just starting my career .

But people like Rehman sir , who always is super active on Instagram , sharing so much of inspiring content , I really get you know inspired from him the way he's constantly changing himself to keep the trend , maintain the trend .

But what if you had a mental first aid box which you could just open on a bad day and whatever is inside makes you smile ? What would you put in your little mental first aid box ?

Yeah , so it's the memories that I spent with my family , my brothers , my sister and my friends , and , yeah , I would store that in one corner of the mental first aid box and the other corner I think I will go with all the blessings that I receive . I think gratitude is beyond everything .

The more I feel grateful for something , the more it attracts positivity . So , yeah , I always feel grateful for what all experiences that I had in the music field and , to be honest , mental first aid box is music always so .

So that is one song which really helps me in that there is a line called Kalamima okay , it's in Telugu which says time will change and you will find your answers for everything . So that kind of is very healing how beautiful .

Because personally , I would give a context so most of my life I've been traveling a lot like for at least for the past five years . So I get a amazing opportunity when I'm in Chennai , when I'm in Mumbai , so I would miss out on that . And there is this constant fear okay , what if I'm traveling now and I would be missing out on something ?

Is there any way to cope up with that ? Or you know how to ?

So because you are in a particular city doing a particular show , you are missing out on maybe an opportunity somewhere , but you're also getting to avoid all the unnecessary stuff . You don't need to be present where you know they can just say , oh , you're not in town .

So basically , we are all trying to segregate our lives into these little boxes where we do whatever is the most important to us . Everything else is going to beate our lives into these little boxes where we do whatever is the most important to us . Everything else is going to be in our faces .

Now , because of instagram , right , everybody will be posting about it , everybody will be talking about it . So it is elevated . But eventually it was just that one evening which everybody will forget about , or it was just that one thing that everybody will let slide soon .

What your experience in person is actually richer than what you have missed out , let's say online or whatever you're seeing online , just that little experience of being somewhere and you know , like you said , connecting with people , being able to talk to people , it's so rich by itself .

I'm sure your experiences are somebody else's FOMO , so so you know , it's the whole perspective that you've actually missed out on , a lot of things that you should not have spent your energy on anyway . Your energy , your experiences , your shows . I'm sure somebody somewhere is saying , oh my God , I'm missing Sirisha's show today . I didn't want to miss it .

No matter what you're doing , whether you you're a writer , singer , doctor , you know , in athletics , whatever the mind always plays a very , very important role .

So once my head is cleared , then I started thinking clearly about what is important and what is not . So yeah it , it is true how nice , sirisha

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You're still at the top . It's just so amazing . You bring in a lot . You bring in a lot to the table , a lot of energy to the music world . We wish you all the very best for beautiful songs in the future .

We wish to hear a lot more of you , and I'm going to end this with a soundtrack from your own movie , kala , so that the audience knows whom I'm talking about . But thank you so much for taking the time and being on Detangled with me today .