Shilpa Rao: I don’t think I have worked one day in life

Singer Shilpa Rao has a busy month ahead as she will be performing across cities in India, including Delhi on December 4. However, Rao quips that she enjoys her work so much so that it feels like she has never worked for a day in life.

“Each song takes its due course, but one needs to have an open mind and enjoy this process,” the singer continues, “At the end of the day, the effort and time I put into recording a song in the studio, is the exact reason why I became a singer. So I don’t take it as work. I don’t think I have worked one day in the life. The more I have gone back into the studio, the more I have improved, and the better I have felt about my work. And any aspirants who want to do music also needs to understand that it does not happen in one shot.”

Rao further explains that every song has a journey, and it can’t be predicted at the start that how long it will take to complete it.

“I’m someone who has gone back to the studios to re-record a song for months because we [the team] felt we could make it better. I re-recorded Kalank three for months and we constantly worked on it during this time. On Bulleya, we worked on it for a year and a half..we attempted to make it better at least three-four times. Though it was always the collective decision, sometimes, the lyrics were changed other times the format was changed… every attempt helped me in delivering better than the previous time,” shares the singer, who is the voice behind several Bollywood hit songs such as Javeda Zindagi, Khuda Jaane and Ishq Shava.

Though she has tasted success with most of her songs, there have also been tracks that weren’t received well by the audiences. Asked if the harsh criticism that comes with failures, especially on social media, affected her, Rao maintains a positive outlook towards it, and says one needs to have everything on the platter and then grow with the lessons.

“One thing I have learnt from my parents is to listen to criticism, but only of the people whom you can learn from. Criticism is as important as the praise you get. Having the right critics around you, who would give you a very objective perspective, is essential for your growth,” notes Rao, who also believes that it’s very important to critic your own self.