'I am an exclusive singer'

Popular playback singer Richa Sharma, known for her folk-flavoured, lively and soulful singing, claims that her voice and style of singing are exclusive.

"I am not a regular singer," she remarked. "The songs that are offered to me in the industry today are especially tailored to suit my voice. And I feel blessed".

"In fact, just like Sukhwinder Singh, Shubha Mudgal and Usha Uthup, I have a unique standing in the music industry," said Richa who is taking part in NDTV Imagine's musical reality show Idea Dhoom Macha De and was here to promote it.

"This show is the right platform to judge the best live performer and I am just glad to be part of it," she said.

Apparently, Richa is considered one of the strongest contenders. Others include talents like Jaspinder Narula, Baba Sehgal, Sapna Mukherjee and Mona Singh of Jassi fame.

In one of the episodes, Richa made a bleak remark. She stated Ab wahi hoga jo Richa chahegi (Now whatever Richa wants, only that will happen).

Richa explained: "I am a bindaas (carefree) person. I only speak what comes to my mind, often without thinking".

"At that point of time I was feeling a bit restricted due to everyone's demands. I wanted to perform the way I like to and I will continue doing so," she told IANS.

She also outright denied having any resentment for the judges panel, including singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan, veteran actor Sharmila Tagore and lyricist Prasoon Joshi.

Richa has come a long way since the time when her singing was confined to devotional songs. Although she used to sing as a child, her career as a playback took off only in 2002 with the club song Mahi ve from the film Kaante.

"No matter how popular I become in the playback industry, singing devotional songs will always remain my first love," she told IANS.

Richa however feels that due to her association with the film industry, people refrain from inviting her to sing for religious functions. "I am forever ready to sing devotional songs at any place," she stated.

The exuberant singer has a host of songs lined up for this year. Some of the films in which she will render vocals include Jannat, Sadiyaan, Mahadev and Chamku among many others and she is excited for the same. The singer currently claims to have sung almost 80 songs in the course of her career as a singer.