2006! Ahh what an exciting year it has been and this holds especially true for the Bollywood film industry. The moviegoers were in for an eventful year as we experienced some good cinema as well as some not so good ones. We were pleasantly surprised by new entrants in Bollywood while others let us down. The Bollywood music scene have been a booming sight this year as we were introduced to some upcoming talents whose first steps into this competitive world of cinema have been a rather successful one. Join us as we spotlight five such artists who gives us a jhalak of what is to come in the future of Bollywood music.
Nihira
Nihira has been an aspiring singer from the age of 10 and 10 years later, today, she is a Bollywood singer in the making. A simple girl from Mumbai, India, Nihira has gotten recognitions that many still dream of. She has received the Pt. Paluskar Award and Swar Sadhana Awards among others. She has also been fortunate to be trained by one of Bollywood’s most influential composers, Kalyanji. Nihira has also taken part on Zee TV’s popular singing competition show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Having accompanied Sunidhi Chauhan in the song ‘Dhadak Dhadak’ in last year’s Bunty aur Babli, Nihira makes her presence in the recently released music album of Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq. She is the only singer to have sung two songs in this album, ‘Mera Dil’ and the re-mastered version of the classic ‘Babuji Dheere Chalna’. Nihira has already got her plates full providing background vocals for some of Indian Televisions popular soap operas, commercial jingles as well as movies. This young one is here to stay!
James
The immense success of ‘Bheegi Bheegi’ from Anurag Basu’s Gangster, made Faruk Mahfuz Anam, better known as James, an overnight sensation. The rock star has already received his share of success from his home country, Bangladesh, where he has been winning accolades from fans for two decades now. Pritam, composer of Gangster, selected James for his unique vocal qualities and regardless of James’ lack of fluency in the Hindi language, Pritam was confident that the singer would pull it off. James’ intoxicating voice and rock style singing is mind-blowing. As his fan following in Bollywood continues to grow, one hopes to hear more from this talented singer in the future.
Glenn John
The son of one of the most prominent Pakistani singers, S.B. John, Glenn John made his Bollywood singing debut this year in Mohit Suri’s Woh Lamhe with the heart-warming rendition of ‘Tu Jo Nahin’. Incidentally, the song was originally sung by his father in the movie Sawera. It is not often that one gets the pleasure to hear such a soothing and comforting voice that Glenn possesses. Truly his father’s son, Glenn John is one talent to lookout for.
Anmol Malik
After only hearing Anmol’s voice, one would never guess that she is only 16 years of age. Being Anu Malik’s daugther, singing is in her genes. The young singer recently lend her voice in JP Dutta’s Umrao Jaan for the song ‘Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya’ and it is truly memorable. Anmol shows a lot of potential as a singer but in a recent interview she stated her first priority is to excel in her studies and music is a hobby rather than a career option. Whichever path she chooses, the future looks bright for this teen.
Zubeen Garg
Zubeen Garg shook the music world this year with his soulful rendition of ‘Ya Ali’ in Anurag Basu’s Gangster. Zubeen, however, is not a newcomer in Bollywood as he has previously lend his voice for movies such as Fiza and Kaante but it wasn’t until ‘Ya Ali’ that he received his deserved recognition. The song topped all the music charts in India and since then offers has been pouring in. Zubeen was last heard this year in the Bas Ek Pal and I See You albums and his fans were not disappointed. Hailing from Assam, Zubeen has composed music for 26 Assamese films, sung in 40 different languages and won a National Award for his composition in the Assamese film Dinabandhu in 2005. The talented singer is about to add another feather to his cap as he marks his debut as a Bollywood music director with Sanjay Jha’s offbeat film Strings.
There you have it, the top 5 talents to look out for in the new year.
