IF
she were not a singer, she'd have pursued a career in motor sports, says Tanvi
Shah as she deftly maneuvers her Tata Safari through Chennai's peak-hour
traffic. As we leave the city behind to enjoy a drive down the shimmering
sea-blue stretch of East Coast Road, Tanvi narrates the story of her memorable
ride to fame.
The
petite Tanvi, all of 27 years, confesses that music is her first love. Though
she has had many 'crushes' - she loves to design jewellery, motor sports gives
her a high, she is a graduate in fine arts from Stella Maris College, Chennai,
and holds a degree in ceramics from an American university - it's music that she
loves most. In fact, she calls it her only real love.
Finding
Her Voice
Surprisingly
though, Tanvi discovered her musical talent fairly recently. Hailing from a
family of talented musicians - ''My mom plays the 'sitar', my uncle plays the
drums and my grandmother sings folk songs very well'' - it was natural that she
imbibed music. ''But I have always suffered from stage fear," she explains,
''And so, I never participated in public singing. Though in college, I was part
of a Western music troupe, group singing is quite different.'' After an
academic stint abroad, Tanvi returned to Chennai and discovered her real
vocation. On a friend's recommendation - she sang an ad jingle. That was the
first big step. As luck would have it, at the studio, she met ace percussionist,
Shiva, who coaxed her to perform at the IIT campus for a music contest. ''I was
nervous and apprehensive about the response,'' says Tanvi. ''All the other bands
were wooing the crowds with popular music; while we were about to sing Spanish,
Afro-Cuban and Latino numbers.'' By the time they finished, she not only took
home the Best Vocalist Award, she also had a fan following.
Motivated
and with Shiva's support, Tanvi set up her own music band called Zahrra, which,
in Spanish, as well as Arabic, means 'budding and upcoming'. From a fledgling
five-member team that was set up last year, Zahrra has today become a 15-member
band. ''The focus is on creating world music. We want to travel the world with
our music and sing to different nationalities and groups.'' Apart from Latin,
Afro-Cuban, Russian and Spanish strains, Tanvi also loves to sing popular film
numbers. She has lent her voice to Kareena Kapoor in Mani Ratnam's film, 'Yuva'
for the rhythmic 'Fana'. ''A break with the combination of AR Rahman and Mani
Ratnam was a double whammy indeed,'' she concedes and breaks into girlish
laughter.
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