HIMANSHU GURU, OP
“It is tough to discourage me. I know my weaknesses and how to overcome them,” says singer Pragya Patra, 25. She has shared the stage with Bollywood biggies Shankar Mahadevan, Udit Narayan, Arijit Singh, Mika Singh and Shaan. The singer first rose to prominence after entering the top five bracket in ‘The Voice India’ singing reality show. Interestingly, she has been groomed by none other than legendary singer Suresh Wadkar. The Mumbai-based Odia singer was recently in Bhubaneswar to receive the Banichitra Cine Award when Orissa POST spoke with her about her career in music.
Daughter of Minakhi and J C Patra of Bhubaneswar ((hailing from Balasore), Pragya did her schooling in DAV Hehal, Ranchi before completing her Plus II Science from DPS, RK Puram in Delhi. She is a graduate in Business Administration from NM College in Mumbai. Pragya’s father retired as a general manager in Coal India Limited. Her mother is also a singer and has recorded a few songs.
Pragya’s musical journey began in Sambalpur when her father was with the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, Burla. She was initiated into music by Guru Bipin Bihari Nath, who taught her for five years. Later on, she learned classical music under the tutelage of Sanjukta Biswas. Pragya also plays the keyboard, guitar and tabla. Besides singing, she also writes lyrics and composes music. She took keyboard lessons from Birendra Das and learnt tabla playing from Surendra Bag of Sambalpur. Pragya has completed Visharad in Hindustani classical music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. She has also received vocal training from Suresh Wadkar’s music school ‘Ajivasan’ in Juhu, Mumbai.
Pragya’s music career began when she was five years old. “I performed in a concert at the MCL campus in Burla, Sambalpur and sang a Ganesh bandana ‘Prathama Sumira Shree Ganesh,’ she recollects.
At 10, she became a child artiste with All India Radio, Sambalpur. She also performed with her mother at TV and stage shows. “I used to be first in all singing competitions in my high school at Ranchi for five consecutive years. Then I moved to Delhi to pursue Intermediate where I recorded a bhajan album titled Bhavanjali produced by Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan. My songs included Mora Shyam, and Jay Ganapati Ganesh Gourinandana.”
“After completion of studies, I joined Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) as a market research analyst in 2011 and that is when I took part in the “Voice of Bangalore” show. In 2013, I joined Google in Gurgaon as an account strategist. During this period, I won a digital music contest ‘Mobisur’ hosted by T Series. Shankar Mahadevan and Tulsi Kumar were judges in this contest. I got the prize worth Rs. 5 lakh and an opportunity to record for the album ‘Badmasian.’ In this album, I lent my voice to the number ‘Aisi Andaziyaan’ along with Shankar Mahadevan. I won another music contest ‘Idea Rocks India’ and performed with Mika Singh. I also won the ‘Radio City 91.1 Super Singer’ contest and ‘Sur Tarang’,” she adds.
Pragya continues, “I moved to Mumbai in May 2015 to pursue a career in music. In ‘The Voice India,’ I was in Sunidhi Chouhan’s team. It was an amazing experience and from then I was considered as a singer with potential. Soon I got many singing opportunities. I performed with Arijit Singh in the ‘Bollywood Music Project.’ In Karnataka, I sang at the launch of Spandana TV channel. I performed in Udaipur and Indore and many other cities. It was a memorable experience for me when I performed a duet with Udit Narayan at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar to mark 2017 Utkal Divas. I have performed in more than 500 shows across the country. I have shared the stage with Shaan, Mika Singh, Udit Narayan, Arijit and many other reputed singers.”
Pragya has also performed in other countries, including Cambodia and the Philippines. “In Cambodia, I rendered Hindi film songs and Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me like you Do’ and in the Philippines, I sang Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ along with Hindi songs.”
Pragya has sung for Hindi and regional films, including Kannada, like Tony, Paro and Dakota Pictures. She owns ‘Punyaa Productions’ and has composed and written jingles. “I’ve composed songs and jingles for commercials in partnership with Abhimanyu Ganguly. My jingle Ocky Pocky for a kid’s learning app is available live on Android and I Tune platforms,” she says.
Pragya has knowledge of over 50 ragas but her favourites are Yaman, Bhairavi and Desh. Asked about learning music from Suresh Wadkar, the singer says, “He would sing the raag to the accompaniment of the swarmandal and ask the students to do the ‘vistaar.’ Later, he would sing some ghazal for the students to follow. ”
“I made people dance to Runa Laila’s ‘Dumadum Mast Kalandar’ at many music shows. So the song has become a memorable one for me. I sing slow romantic songs and fast tracks and have tried Jazz. I am proficient in Indian styles,” she says.
A pure vegetarian, Pragya regularly visits the gym and performs pranayam and riyaaz to keep her voice intact. About her diet, she says, “I don’t like sour food and ice-cream.”
