I am very critical of myself: Suchitra Krishnamoorthi

It was at a family dinner when her sister Sunita Nagarajan sang a melody that she had composed. That very moment, singer and actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi knew that she would record the song as a single for herself. And ‘Shararat’ was born.

“I had been looking for the right vehicle to move into a more mature genre of music for a while, and this was perfect. ‘Shararat’ is Ghazal Pop -- A blend of ghazal, so far unexplored by me, and pop which has been my forte through the years,” she tells.

All praise for Mayur Puri (‘Chutki Bhar Sindoor’, Om Shanti Om), who wrote the lyrics for the single, Krishnamoorthi recalls listeners being stunned by the quality of poetry.

Back to the music scene after five years, the singer whose first album ‘Dole Dole’ hit the market in 1995 confesses she misses doing more music.

“I hope to come out with more music this year onwards. I am quite laid back and must be creatively fired before committing to something. That is the only reason for my long absences,” says the artist who also has albums like ‘Dum Tara’ and ‘A-Ha’ to her credit.

An actor, model, writer, and singer, who has been seen in around 15 Hindi and South Indian films, she stresses that her core competence is music.

“It is what everybody from my childhood remembers me as -- the singer who was always belting out songs on stage. Modelling and acting happened automatically considering the way I looked. I was a cute-looking teen I guess, so offers fell in my lap and I started enjoying facing the camera. When one is so young , adulation and fame can be heady,” she smiles.

Recently seen in the film ‘Odd Couple’ and ‘Guilty Minds’ on different digital platforms, she feels OTT has changed the game completely with more stories, opportunities, and variety.

“In the past, people told women that their career was over once they hit the age of 30. That has been toppled now -- look at Shefali Shah and Neena Gupta -- they are thriving today. As far as my work for OTT is concerned, I am very critical of myself and never feel I have done good enough. There is always a feeling -- maybe I am looking fat, or I could have said that line better or done it differently perhaps -- appreciation from the audience and fraternity is a big confidence booster,” says the singer-actor who started her TV career with the series ‘Chaunati’ while still in school in the year 1987–1988.

Much in news over her comments on the casting couch, she feels it still exists to a large extent for those starting out. However, the moral connotation has changed -- it is now more a barter.

“It all depends on the persons involved. The casting couch exists in all industries -- even the corporate world. It is a power game too. I must add that things are definitely more professional now -- more organised, more regulated. Opportunities are always available to the talented and resilient ones.”

“No one needs to submit to the casting couch unless they are doing it for their own benefit. No one can force anybody to do anything --- unlike in the past when everything was under the carpet and hush hush -- in today’s world one can just record an incident secretly and put out a tweet etc to expose the offender.

“The fear of shame and scandal keeps the unscrupulous in check to a large extent. It is a safer world today,” she feels. The artist, who lost her mother recently now wants to disappear for a few weeks out of town, and cut herself from the world. “And return healed and rejuvenated,” she concludes.