There is a recognisable humbleness in the way that she talks, owed perhaps to the eternal love she harbours for singing. Parul Mishra, is a professional singer who has happily devoted all her life to music. It was only a few months back that the song from TVF’s Aspirants, Mohbhang, to which Parul has lent her beautiful vocals, was making rounds and receiving a lot of admiration all over. With a lot of valuable experiences and insight following her stead, she has walked a long way to be where she is now. And the more I talked to her the more I realised that her intense respect and dedication for her profession is only going to take her to more brilliant heights!
Belonging from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Parul was just a child when she began her training in the field. Although no one in her family has a background in music, the immediate recognition of her talent in her early years garnered a lot of support from her family. Under training till the end of her schooling, on the advice of her Guru, she participated in many competitions held at the state and national levels. While she had the backing of her family throughout, it was after she moved to Delhi that she found the responsibility of carving her own path that would later lead her to Mumbai.
It was while she was pursuing her graduation in music in Delhi that a chance happening led her to audition for a music contest, the winner of which was to share a stage with A.R. Rahman. She tells me how she had auditioned for it without giving much thought. It was only after she made it to the top ten that she gave the whole scene some serious thought. And after making the top five contestants, the unexpected greeted her when she was chosen by Rahman himself as the winner after singing at his studio in Chennai. That was 17th November 2008 for Parul, a date special to her for all the good things it brought forth. It is a memory she will cherish forever, she goes on to add gleefully.
Parul performed with Rahman later in Delhi, and also shared the stage with many singers she had always been a fan of. All of it was nothing short of a dream coming true. However, none of it had she expected to happen. Her talent only brilliantly flowed with and responded to things as they went on to happen. Next in 2009, Parul received her first break when she was asked to sing the title track of A.R. Rahman’s album for a 2010 film ‘Ada- A Way of Life’.
Perhaps this is where Parul’s attraction to be a part of Bollywood and work as a playback singer began. She still had a long way to go with her studies, especially since her parents hoped she would continue with them to later find a government job. But living in Delhi, Parul’s heart was stuck in the city of Mumbai. And before she lost all her courage to chase her dream, she decided to move in 2013. Having previously made many visits to the city, owing to her being part of many reality shows like Sa re ga ma pa, she had not just made friends with Bombay but also earned the confidence that she could survive living there alone. And so she did, throughout the years finding many opportunities to work on different projects.
Since she is trained in classical music, Parul had wanted to find a way of making the genre more accessible to a newer audience. It was with this thought that she released her own album last year, a fruitful and lovely endeavour called the ‘Streets of Banaras’. The album is an interesting work of melodies, a fusion of classical ragas and traditional music with modern acoustics and rock.
Following this piece of work, Parul says she aims to create and serve her audience with the best of things, to give back for all the love she receives. About her song Mohbhang, which certainly brought her a lot of recognition and appreciation, she reveals how it wasn’t even in her cards initially. Getting a call just a day before the episode’s release, the song was recorded in the evening and released the very next day. Surpassing her expectations, it became a hit overnight and has truly given Parul’s talent its due.
When I ask her if while working the ins and outs of this field she has ever felt demotivated to carry on with the profession, she simply says she hasn’t. It is not because Parul has an overflowing jug of optimism in her hands, but because she doesn’t have the time for it. She says when she didn’t have as much engagement, opportunities, and recognition as she does now, her whole being was focused on creating something that people would love and appreciate. Now with many such creations in her store, her focus is on maintaining the responsibility that has increased and keeping her audience happy. And her doses of motivation rest in navigating through these milestones.
Be honest to your profession. Your love and hard work should be honest.
Parul Mishra
As she has understood from her own work ethics, Parul’s advice to musicians starting or steering their career is this alone, that is, to be honest for your profession. Your love and hard work should be honest. And it may be that it’ll take time for you to achieve what you want. But that you get nothing out of the whole journey will never be true. Because even with attempts that do not always lead to the desired results, you still have experiences to take away, and in the long run, that remains invaluable. And it applies to her too, for it is her bagful of experiences that has made the journey of Parul, as an artist, so interesting!
