Vasundhara Das

Biography

A bright-eyed youngster who wants to use her superior vocals to further her career. A dreamlike offer which leads her to don the greasepaint and share screen space with one of the demi gods of Indian cinema. Vasundhara Das has a nice little fairytale etched out for her life. From the gleam in her eye as a teenager, to her film offers, Vasundhara has achieved it all. And she is thirsting for more.

Vasundhara's vocals have been blessed by the gods themselves. She had made up her mind to pursue singing as a career when in school, and invested serious time and effort on it. She trained under Pandit Parameshwara Hegde of Keherwana Gharana, and carried her interest in singing to college, where she was a permanent and reassuring fixture on stage, and in choirs. She won accolades by the hundreds, and this assured a firm foundation for the future. She also learnt to sing in other languages like Spanish.

Vasundhara's first celluloid break came with the Tamil film Mudhalvan, under the musical baton of A R Rahman. She voiced sensuous siren Sushmita Sen for Shakalaka baby, and the song was a resounding success. Meanwhile, Vasundhara's life was branching out to include another facet - acting. She was initially approached for Mani Rathnam's Alaipayuthey, but the role eventually went to Shalini.

But the story did not end there. Kamal Haasan wanted a fresh face to play his second wife in his mammoth labour of love Hey Ram. The role catapulted her to the higher eclelons of cinema. Though the film sank without a trace, as the sprightly Mythili, Vasundhara had made a dent. Meanwhile, she was also making inroads into the music circuit, and released her first private album, Meri Jaan. The album was an eclectic blend of myriad elements and worked very well for her.

Celluloid acclaim was soon to follow. Vasundhara seemed now to earn her place as a Rahman favourite, and sang in Rhythm. But he had more ambitious things in store for her. Lagaan was a monument in the Hindi music industry, and Vasundhara was given an opportunity to flex her vocals, this time in English, for British leading lady Rachel Shelley. This was the biggest turning point of her career.

Vasundhara now seems to have carved a definite path to success, and is being noticed by more composers. Anu Malik has entrusted her with two challenging tracks in Aks, where she matches voices with the likes of KK. She donned the greasepaint once again for Citizen, and romanced heartthrob Ajith. Life is a two-ring circus for this dynamic young performer, and she is poised to scale greater and greater heights!