Making a song and dance

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To Shonaa Gonsalves, singer and versatile stage performer, singing is akin to breathing — something she cannot do without. Last year was a fruitful year for the singing sensation when she was bestowed an award for the Best Performing Artiste by a critics’ society. In a field brimming with competition, what stood out was her crisp vocals and uninhibited stage performance that impressed her audience.

Born into a family that had nothing to do with music, Shonaa’s inclination to music is still a mystery. She says, “My initial training in Mumbai was under the experienced Sharada Rajan.” What has proved a distinct advantage for Shonaa as a stage performer is that she can also dance like a dream. Shonaa’s big break came after graduation, when she sang in an album along with Vinod Rathod. Shonaa says, “That album was only the beginning of good times — I sang a couple of popular remixes, and did my first show with Neeraj of Bombay Vikings, followed by shows with the US-based Sonik Gurus, Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kailash Kher, Alisha and Bappi Lahiri.” She has performed across the country as well as US, Kuwait, Australia and Fiji to name a few international venues. A stage show that is etched in her memory happened when she shared stage with the drama queen Rakhi Sawant.
Rakhi being Rakhi, the fur soon began to fly! Shonaa says, “It was a show in Kolhapur, in an open ground with around 30,000 people. Rakhi entered, clad in skimpy clothes and soon the barricades broke and the police resorted to a lathi-charge. I stood on stage bewildered with chaos happening around me and Rakhi swearing on another side.” Rakhi was consequently banned for wearing offensive clothes after that show.
Shunning the commercial aspect, another show that Shonaa performed was for the kids at Tihar Jail and she opines, “The look in their eyes mirror the same innocence of other kids but an interaction with them showed that they had committed grave crimes. That was a very special show.”
Films were but the natural next step. She sang for a few Bollywood films and will be singing for the animated Sinbad the Sailor. She will also be singing and performing an item dance for a Vinay Pathak film. She adds, “I will be coming out with my own video titled Shonaa Gonsalves, where I’ll be singing and dancing. There are only a lucky few who can make a profession of their passion.”