The singer in the durbar

VIJAY TV has a special guest for Independence Day on its talk show `Nayyandi Durbar'. ``A beautiful singer who is more beautiful when she sings,'' as the anchor Yuhi Sethu describes her.

``There are many actresses who look good. Very few who look good and sing well... Salma Agha, Sulakshana Pandit to name a few. Looking good and singing is a deadly combination. And she is an overnight actress all right but not an overnight singer,'' he adds.

When Vasundara Das dropped in at the studio for the shoot on Wednesday afternoon, she was the cynosure of all eyes.

No, she's not Bengali if you were wondering about the `Das' part of her name. She's an Iyengar from Srirangam, born in Bangalore, who became familiar to Tamil audience after she made her debut with `Hey Ram'.

Her ancestors have been all around India. Her folks ensured she had been around Orissa and Delhi where she learnt Hindustani Classical music on compulsion by her grandparents. Now, she self- admittedly was ``tasting the fruit of it''.

``I was gunned to learn Hindustani music under Baswaraj Rajguru then,'' she told the host who wondered `Why-not-Carnatic'. And it turned out that she had spent ten years learning Hindustani classical that now she felt it difficult to shift to Carnatic.

In the course of the programme, she sang `Ayyo Pathikkichchu', `O ri chchori', `Meri Jaan', `Rabba Rabba' and her first hit `Shakalakababy'.

Did you know that Vasundara found it strange to wear sarees for `Hey Ram'? She had named herself Sanjay when she was five years old. Later, she got herself a crew-cut and was quite a tomboy. In her own words, she is ``different'', ``flamboyant'' and a ``jumpy'' character.

When Yuhi asked her about her experience with Kamal Hassan, she said it was then when she learnt ``what acting is''. And Yuhi made no bones, pulling her leg, on her scenes with Kamal Hassan in Hey Ram. Vasundara apparently, attended a workshop under Naseeruddin Shah for `Monsoon Wedding', Punjabisised English film, recently.

Vasundara, B.Sc., it turns out, desires to do an MBA someday.

By Sudhish Kamath

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Section  : Entertainment