From winning the first Indian Idol Junior in 2013 to lighting up Times Square in the US, Anjana Padmanabhan has come a long way. Days before her October 18 performance at the concert titled Diwali at Times Square, as mid-day caught up with the singer over a phone call, her excitement was palpable. “Times Square is a dream stage for every artiste,” she began. “Knowing that I will be representing my culture and telling my story feels surreal. The most special moment for me will be when I am on that stage, seeing people from so many different cultures coming together. That will be such an indescribable emotion.”
For the performance, the singer prepared a robust playlist — songs that “have inspired” her over the years. An ardent fan of AR Rahman, she incorporated many of the maestro’s songs. “There are some wonderful tracks of Rahman sir — Humma Humma, Dil Se Re, and Chaiyya Chaiyya. [I have included Pritam’s] Kesariya too. I will come up with new arrangements and new soundscapes that people wouldn’t have imagined those songs to be in,” she shared.
Winning a major talent show like Indian Idol Junior is a huge milestone. But what happens after the spotlight fades? Since her win in 2013, Padmanabhan has lent her voice to several film songs and singles. But not everyone remains as relevant. Weighing in on this, the singer said, “A platform like Indian Idol gives you so much — an audience, and a way to connect to people. It gives you a platform to tell the world the kind of artiste you want to be. I wouldn’t say [the spotlight] fades. Now that I’m out of it, I am building who I am as an artiste. Creativity and music are the only things that fuel us. I don’t look at music from the lens of fame or career. I look at it as the purest form of art. The day we start looking at it from the perspective of fame, we reduce the art. You need to think of it as something you need to do sadhana on.”
Anjana Padmanabhan’s popular songs
. ‘Mahiya’ (2021)
. ‘Bambooziya’ (2024)
. ‘Mudhal Variye’
