Always answer your phone when it rings – you never know who’s on the other side! For New York Indie-Hindi pop singer Falu it sure was a call of a lifetime. As she was boarding a flight for France, she got a call from A.R.Rahman’s management company asking her to sing with the maestro at the glittering Time 100 Gala for a star-studded crowd, including First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Stella McCartney, Diane Sawyer, Naomi Watts, financial wiz Suze Orman and scores of other celebrities.
“Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey were just four feet away from me – both were on the same table and it was the most amazing moment of my life till date because I was singing for Michelle and Oprah and everyone in that room was a celebrity,” says Falu. Clad in a knock-out red lengha choli, she sang ‘Jai Ho!’ from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ with Rahman, with the world watching.
So she didn’t lose her voice at all with all the celebrities around? Says Falu, “I think ‘riyaaz’ (practice) comes in very handy at times like this – I wasn’t nervous at all – I was having so much fun – I enjoyed the moment thoroughly.”
After all, Falu was trained in the Jaipur musical tradition and has studied under the great Ustad Sultan Khan. She’s won gold medals as a rising classical music star in India. Since coming to the US, she’s performed with the Boston based band Karyshma and with Karsh Kale. She interacts daily with audiences with her own band Falu, and has also performed as a soloist with no less than Yo-Yo Ma. She’s also been appointed one of Carnegie Hall’s Musical Ambassadors to New York City.
Falu, who has a CD out, was recently featured with her band on National Geographic’s Channel Geo Sessions and on Fox TV’s Fearless Music.
1 Comment
This is a great achievement by an Indian. Proud to be an Indian.