Pop n’ playback singer Priyani Vani Pandit whose latest playback song ‘Goodnight, aankhen moondley’ from producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s latest movie Ferrari Ki Sawari composed by Pritam, is currently making waves. The exuberant Priyani, who was tagged the female finalist winner in the keenly contested ‘Voice of India’, and is otherwise a highly qualified classical singer, seemed thrilled. Enthuses the versatile singer, “It’s a privilege for me to render ‘playback’ for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s banner. My song ‘Goodnight’ is a soothing solo-lullaby which has the subtle undercurrent of a Western ‘opera’ with awesome philharmonic symphony overtures that make you feel as if you are watching a Hollywood movie.” The peppy singer, incidentally, is married to ace lyricist Ashish Pandit who wrote the lyrics of the recent sensational chartbuster ‘Dhinka Chika’ in the Salman Khan starrer Ready. When raunchy, racy item-songs are the order of the day for instant fame, why did Priyani opt for a ‘lullaby’ which has a limited masses-connect?
She counters, “In fact, it was Pritam-da who insisted that I sing this lullaby, as I have already sung duets composed by him in previous movies like Players and Thank You. This is my career ka pehlaa solo playback song. But the biggest compliment was that Pritam-da and Vidhu-sir approached me, only after they had heard the vocal tracks of the same song, sung by other senior singers. The acclaimed film-maker and composer were apparently not getting what they wanted. They were looking for ‘vocal innocence’ which I was told, they found in my voice. It was a challenge for me that I was given the brief ‘aapko gaana nahin, sur mein bolna hai’. It’s a unique situation, where the young cricket-crazy boy’s mother hums it in his dreams.
One hasn’t heard classy playback lullabies in the recent past, so I feel my rare song will have its own precious place,” justifies Priyani who despite her ‘ravishing’ looks had refused several lucrative acting offers, that too from Bollywood big banners.
“My firm focus is playback singing, performing at live shows and concerts, and also hosting musical reality TV shows. Somehow, I felt that I was not cut out for lead roles in movies, as one is expected to be ‘bold’ in every way. In any case, I don’t regret my decision,” she signs off.