In a man's world, Shivi Kashyap aims to stand tall

Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) There aren't too many women into music direction, but Shivi Kashyap, who comes from the small town of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, is trying to break barriers by composing melodies with her first film "Tere Mere Phere".

Yesteryears music director Usha Khanna and current crop Sneha Khanwalkar are the only famous female music directors of Hindi filmdom. However, Kashyap feels the industry is open to new talent, gender irrespective.

"Definitely there are less females in music composing and often it is difficult for women to come and show their talent even now. But at the end of the day, it is about your work. If you are good, it really doesn't matter whether you are a woman or a man. So I'm not nervous about that fact," Kashyap told IANS in an interview.

"There are certain times when you do come across weird situations but then that is in every field. I believe at the end of the day what matters is only your work and your talent that helps you create a mark," she added.

Like many, Kashyap came to Mumbai with a dream to get herself heard as a singer. But life had a different plan - she ended up composing for "Tere Mere Phere", which is actress Deepa Sahi's directorial venture and stars Vinay Pathak and Riya Sen in the lead.

"I came to Mumbai to become a singer and this shift from being a singer to a music composer was pretty shocking for my family and me. But it has been great because composing is something that I had been doing since I was 13 and finally it is out there and people can hear and see what I like doing and what I'm meant to do. I'm very excited," Shivi said.

How did the opportunity come by?

"Since I came here to become a singer, I met composer Sandesh Shandilya with my demo CD. He heard the CD and asked who has composed the songs, so I told him that I had composed them myself and he immediately put me through Deepaji and Ketanji (Ketan Mehta) because he knew that they are making a film.

"When I went to meet them, they gave me a little brief about the film. Based on that, I came up with the five songs and the background score of the film," she added.

Almost 90 percent of the film has been shot in Himachal, and the songs of the album have a fusion and contain elements of Himachali folk.

No wonder Himachal girl Kashyap took less than two months to finish it.

Earlier, the singer-composer has released Hindi and Pahari language albums like "Ranjhna" and "Sagar". Now she wants to concentrate more on composing.

"I will concentrate on being a composer. I will keep singing as well, but I will concentrate more on making music," she said.

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Tere Mere Phere