Venkat Raman –
When Neha Sinha appears for the first time on a New Zealand stage later this month, she would demonstrate the fact that passion and humility are two attributes that elevate talent and foster the quality of music.
The youngster, whose parents Abhay and Varsha Dhoke (now residents of Melbourne, Australia) are friends of Indian Newslink, is scheduled to participate in a forthcoming musical show of Amit Kumar and his group.
Amit Kumar Concert
Gopal Bhatia is organising the programme called, ‘Bade Acche Lagte Hain’ on behalf of his ‘Sursargam Events’ at Logan Campbell Centre on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
Amit Kumar and Neha Sinha will respectively be the lead male and female singers at the Concert with a number of local talents including Mr Bhatia, Makrand Patankar and Guncha Singh. They will be supported by an Orchestra from Mumbai comprising Ajay Atre (Rhythms), Chintan Modha (Key Board), K Mahendra (Saxophone) and Vijay Murthy (Lead Guitar). Local artistes will include Araad Hemant Thaker (Key Board), Manjeet Singh (Tabla) Shivan Padayachi (Bass Guitar).
For tickets and other details, please contact (09) 6246330 or 021-567429.
While the ensuring Concert would be the first for Neha with Amit Kumar in New Zealand, she has appeared on stage with many other well-known artistes.
They include Mukund Phansalkar, Hrishikesh Ranade, Madura Datar, Vibhavari Apate, and Jasraj Joshi.
“I am excited to perform with Amit Kumar Ji,” she said.
Turning Point
“As a professional artiste, I always face the challenge of being prepared to perform at a short notice,” she said and recounted a programme at which she was invited to sing, since the artiste booked earlier was unable to perform.
She had less than two days to prepare to render 20 old Hindi film songs of Lata Mangeshkar as solo and duet. Her passion for the art and the ability to rise to the occasion enabled her to present a splendid performance, following which she began to receive opportunities to sing at many other programmes.
Neha considers that moment as the turning point in her career.
“I became a regular artiste in all their future programmes Even today I feel happy that I accepted the challenge and achieved success with the Grace of God and the patronage of organisers and the listening public,” she said.
Participating in competitions and winning top prizes before she became a professional artiste was almost a habit for Neha.
Among them was ‘Kya Masti Kya Dhoom,’ a show on ‘Star Plus’ hosted by actress actor Sonali Bendre.
Seasoned artiste
Neha is today a seasoned artiste and faces multicultural and multi-ethnic audiences with confidence and poise. So would it be at the Amit Kumar Show in Auckland this month.
She attributes her success to her mother, saying, “Her tireless efforts to bring out the talent in me have brought me to this level. I am always thankful to my Guru Dr Purnima Duhamale for training me patiently over the years and encouraging my talent in light music despite being a great Hindustani Classical singer.
As well as in public performances and sound tracks, Neha’s work as a producer of jingles is also known to radio producers. She has created more than 50 jingles for Radio Mirchi based in Pune.
“Since childhood I am passionate about singing songs and always dreamed of becoming a playback singer. My Idols are Lata Mangeshkar and Shreya Ghoshal who keep motivating me with their songs and performances,” Neha said.
