Soumya Raoh

Soumya Raoh

Soumya Raoh from Bangalore (daughter of reputed playback, folk and devotional singer B K Sumitra), another upcoming singer from the South who hit the silver screen with her soulful track ‘Roundhe hai’ (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya), who has also been heard in the soundtracks of movies like Dum (Sunta jaa, Dil hi dil mein), Company (Aankhon mein), Bollywood/Hollywood (Sooni hawa, and Krishna which Soumya also wrote), Samay (Laila laila) and Sandeep Chowta’s album albums Mitti and I Am Sandeep Chowta, has sung a soulful track in ‘Dini Dini’. “It was easy to train Soumya Raoh, as she is a hardworking girl”, Alwyn claims. “She has put great efforts and sung a slow number soulfully”.

She stays alone in Mumbai, and is determined to make it big. “I moved over here from Bangalore in 2001 as I am determined to make it here. If I was singing down South I might have been busier today, but I I chose the more challenging option. After all, singing in Hindi films gets you much more recognition,” says Soumya Raoh.

Soumya Raoh (the ‘h’ is a numerological addition) is content with the slow but sure progress that she has made. “Yes, my PR is bad!” she quips. “I was recently nominated at the Screen Awards for Best Playback Singer for my song Laila Laila in Samay, but there are still people who do not know that I have sung it, or think that it is Alisha Chinoy’s song!” Incidentally, Soumya has just picked up her first award, the Stardust award for Best New Talent in Playback Singing (Female) for the same song.

“So things are happening. These are just teething problems that I cannot complain about, for I hear that even great talents like S D Burman and Udit Narayan had almost decided to go back to their hometowns when their big breaks happened.”
Soumya hails from Bangalore and is the daughter of reputed playback, folk and devotional singer B K Sumitra. “Singing was in my genes and at 7, I began to sing on stage,” says the petite singer. “After I completed my degree in Bachelor of Arts, I began as a dubbing artiste.”

Soumya’s mentor was composer Sandeep Chowta, and her big break was his Telugu film Ninne Pelledatha. “He is like a big brother to me,” says Soumya. “His futuristic approach to music also exposed me to styles like jazz that enhanced my skills and canvas. Finding me free from any South Indian accent, he began doing his own Hindi demos with me. He believed in my potential all along and would stress that I was no ordinary talent!”

Soumya’s first original Hindi song was in Chowta’s Jungle . “I was one of the three voices in it, but it was the same tune as my solo song for him in a Telugu film. Technically I had sung one solo and two duets in Jab Dil Kisipe Aata Hai, the dubbed version of Ninne Pelledatha.”

It was with Roundhe hai (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya), her first Hindi solo, that Soumya was noticed by music buffs, and Soumya concedes that the industry might have typecast her as a Sandeep Chowta ‘campwalli’.

A fixture in all his films like Dum (Sunta jaa, Dil hi dil mein), Company (Aankhon mein), Bollywood/Hollywood (Sooni hawa, and Krishna which Soumya also wrote!), Samay (Laila laila) and his albums Mitti and I Am Sandeep Chowta, she is probably in the same predicament today as Kavita Krishnamurthi who had the ‘Laxmikant-Pyarelal camp’ label for over a decade.

“But doors are opening for me,” says Soumya. “I have sung for Sajid-Wajid in Kuch Kahaa Aapne, Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy in Ek Aur Ek Gyarah and Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai and Anand-Milind in Miss India, Inteqaam and several Telugu films. I also do not want to be slotted in a specific genre of song, because I know that I have a vast vocal range.”

All we can say to that is ‘Ra(o)h! Ra(o)h!’