From humming in her childhood and participating in several reality shows to captivating the hearts of her one million, and counting, followers on YouTube, Amrita Nayak is a bonafide singing sensation. This month, she even bagged the Gold Play Button from YouTube and the golden girl is thrilled to bits. But how did it all begin? The Cuttack-born singer took us through it all.
Humm for the week
Amrita Nayak was a hummer in her childhood, quick to pick up tunes and hum them as she went about her tasks. It was her father who saw the potential and coaxed a slightly apprehensive Amrita to join music classes. "My father was very strict with me. Just like Aamir Khan in Dangal, my father used to wake me up at 5 am and urge me to practice," laughs the 24-year-old as she recalls. But then Rang Tarang happened. This popular cultural show which was telecasted on Doordarshan convinced the then class VI student of her talent as she was the runners-up on it. And this was not the last show she participated in. Reality shows like Voice of Odisha Season II and Amari Swara were smitten by her talent too.
"I remember I was shooting for an episode of Voice of Odisha and had to write my final semester exams the very next day. There were several such instances, but I learnt to manage it all at a very young age," says Amrita who pursued Engineering from ABIT, Cuttack. Bigger things awaited her as soon, music directors from the Odia film industry started to approach her. But there was one problem. "When I was 15, I was told that my voice is not mature enough to be lent to a heroine. I was advised to wait for about two to three years," she shares. But she did not have to wait for long as at the age of 16 she sung her first playback song for a movie. Since then, she has lent her voice to movies like Mate Anidela Lakhe Phaguna, Tu Kahide I Love You, Rudra and several others.
Pure hard work
"How you are, that's the reflection of what you can expect from life. So I never faced any 'issues' in the Odia film industry. Whenever I picked up a negative vibe, I trusted my instincts and moved away from it," says the youngster while talking about the Odia film industry. "In fact, all music directors have seen me growing up so they treat me as a kid," she shares with a smile. She goes on to explain that playback singing has its own challenges. The range of emotions that one's voice needs to depict can vary from sadness to extreme delight. "When I need to sing a romantic song, I imagine SRK and Kajol in sarson ke khet in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge," she blushes.
The singer currently works as a Software Engineer in Capgemini, Hyderabad and continues to record her songs and perform as well. Covers like Tere Naam and Agar Tum Miljao are extremely close to her heart, but it is her own songs that she wants to focus on. She also nurtures the ambition of breaking into the Telugu film industry. She already has a foot in the door with work like Attu Itu Nuvve, Swardham and she is raring to go for more.
In their steps:
On her YouTube channel, she has separate sections where she has sung covers of songs by popular artists. Some of them are:
Arijit Singh: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Samjhawan, Soch Na Sake
Atif Aslam: Tere Sang Yaara, Jeena Jeena, O Saathi
Shreya Ghoshal: Hasi Ban Gaye, Rozana
For more on her, check out youtube.com/user/amritanayak23/featured
