From Reels To Playback With AR Rahman, Antara Nandy's Journey Is Inspiring

AR Rahman is a dream to work with for any musician and 23-year-old Antara Nandy on her debut playback opportunity got selected by the maestro himself in one of the talked about films of this year Ponniyin Selvan: I. Nandy's voice is not unknown to social media users as her song covers went viral as Instagram reels during lockdown.

Antara says, "The competition is high on social media but an artist should take inspiration from others and focus on their own rather than being scared of their competitors." Ponniyin Selvan: I is a pan-Indian movie created by Mani Ratnam featuring some of the biggest stars in the Hindi film industry and the south film industry like Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, Vikram, Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Chidambaram, Sobhita Dhulipala and many others.

It was Rahman who asked for Antara Nandy for the playback of the song "Alaikadal" and to know how this happened to the girl who was busy completing her studies and managing a huge Instagram following, read along.

Who is Antara Nandy?

Antara Nandy was born in Assam and right at the age of three when she used to sing, her parents identified her talent and knew this needed proper guidance and training. So the Nandy family moved to Kolkata. At four and half years, Antara Nandy started training for Hindustani classical music under the Ustad Rashid Khan in Kolkata. Nandy was very passionate about singing and when she was nine, she wanted to sing on television and planned out a way to do it. She recalls, "Back then we had a driver bhaiya who drove me to school and tuition with whom I planned to go the auditions in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs show and sent him to stand in the queue so when my turn comes, he would call my mum and we would have to go for it."

Even if the nine-year-old Nandy did this out of a childish dream to sing on TV, she cleared all the auditions and made it to the show. Antara Nandy went on to be one of the three finalists of the show. Music became more than just a hobby for her and she started doing live shows, singing in title tracks for television gigs.

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How did Anatara Nandy meet A. R. Rahman?

At 12 she went through a voice change which usually boys go through during puberty and things started looking south but she did not give up. Nandy said that there were people who advised her to leave music, "I remember for the feedback for a recording a person called me and said Antara, don't sing, singing is not your cup of tea, focus on your studies and become an engineer like your parents."

She took it up as a challenge to prove that she would be the best musician. She kept training and got selected for training at the K. M. College of Music and Technology. During their annual day, Nandy presented a piece which mesmerised the audience including A. R. Rahman the founder of the college. Rahman met her separately and congratulated her on the performance. A few years back Antara Nandy participated in a YouTube reality show called ARRived when she met Rahman again and to her surprise, he remembered her.

Before the show ended Nandy got a call from Chennai saying, "Rahman sir wants to record a song with me". Nandy left everything and went for it. In 2019 it was the first gig where she was the lead singer in a song created by Rahman for a show. Since then Nandy has been in touch with Rahman and sang song scratches for various projects. Playback for a film was always in her mind but she didn't keep waiting for it. A few weeks back she got a call from the studio in Chennai saying one of her Tamil scratch of a song got finalised. And not just that she was asked to go back and sing the same song called "Alaikadal" in 3 other languages.

Just a few days before the song launch of PS1, she got to know all her songs were finalised. Nandy says, "My parents started crying, it has been their struggle more than mine and it was more than a perfect break for her in the industry." On the launch day Antara Nandy sang in front of the biggest stars like Aishwarya Rai Bacchan, Kamal Hassan, Rajnikanth and many more and as she sang it was followed by a standing ovation by Rajnikanth, she says, "I froze, I couldn't believe this was happening when the whole crowd stood up seeing him."

Antara Nandy at Audio launch for Ponniyin Selvan: I

From reels to playback

Antara Nandy and her younger sister Ankita Nandy created a storm on social media with their soulful voices through reels. The Nandy sisters got recognition across all platforms and the biggest artists. Antara Nandy says, "Internet is a huge platform and you're creating your own opportunities and also use it to brush up your own skills because everyone on the platform is so good." Antara and her sister started a balcony concert during the lockdown and engaged many other people with it. She advises younger artists who are aiming to flourish in the music industry to stay focused and keep at it. To focus on the quality of the content rather than the numbers and going viral with the songs. Nandy says that it was her varied performances on Instagram that caught the eyes of the makers of the song Alaikadal and knew that she would be able to perform in other languages. Her Instagram profile became her best portfolio.

Ponniyin Selvan: I  releases on September 30, 2022, in the theatres.