Music runs in her genes but then she had to work hard like anyone else on acquiring the necessary skills. Reewa Rathod’s labour and passion is on display in her debut single “Maula” released recently. With Late Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod, dhrupad singer as her grandfather, Roop Kumar Rathod and Sonali Rathod as parents and Vinod and Shravan Rathod (of Nadeem-Shravan pair) as uncles, music comes to Reewa naturally. “So do expectations because I belong to such a family,” says Reewa, who was in Bengaluru to perform at a private function alongside Hariharan.
Look at her first single and you can gauge that Reewa is all set to carve out a distinct path. Penned by Gulzar and shot in the Nilgiris, the music has an international vibe to it with Reewa blending in carnatic and western vocal techniques. Reewa is not only adept at Hindustani classical but is trained in Carnatic and has also learnt the piano. “My father insisted that I learn Carnatic as well. Carnatic has a strong sense of rhythm and Hindustani has a lot of thehraav,” says the young composer and singer. Learning two disparate styles helps the composer and singer in her work. “It aids my approach and I can also blend in these two styles to create a distinct sound. I have approached ‘Maula’, too, differently. You would expect it to be Sufi but it isn’t. I want people to enter my world through my music.” Reewa broke out on public stage with an opening act for a Bryan Adams concert in Pune in 2011, where she sang her own song 'Crossing Limits'.
She says she was born with an innate sense of composition. Tunes just keep coming to her head, anywhere, anytime. She had created this tune and saved it on her laptop under the name of Gulzar.
“I had known him since I was a child. When I told him about it, he asked me to meet him. He heard it and then wrote the lyrics for me.” She is now working with the celebrated lyricist for the rest of the songs of the album. Reewa is also collaborating with Ustad Zakir Hussain and famous saxophonist Chris Potter about which she doesn’t want to reveal much.
Reewa is not restricted by the language barrier either and enjoys singing in different languages.
She listens to Turkish songs on the Internet and sings those for herself. She also enjoys singing in Tamil. Reewa had composed a track for Spanish film Rastres De Sandal starring Nandita Das and Aina Clotet.
“The song was choreographed by Saroj Khan and became very popular. People dance a lot to that song in Spain. Singing in different languages just opens your mind and opportunities,” says Reewa whose song “En route Ganesha” was included in Buddha Bar’s international album.