Singer Kavita Seth says the lyrics of a composition decides whether she would sing that particular song or not

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Spring and music go hand-in-hand. And to complement the mood, comes Kasauli Music Festival. This two-day festival will roll on March 29. Singer Kavita Seth will be rounding up the event with her hit numbers such as Rangi Saari, Iktara, Tum Hi Ho Bandhu and other tracks.

On Wednesday, the singer had an interaction with the media. She says, “The people of North India are very warm and welcoming. I have always enjoyed performing in Punjab. It will be my first time in Kasauli. The weather is really good and I hope that it stays the same till April 5 as I want to explore Himachal Pradesh and take back lots of memories.”

Although Kavita has been a part of the Hindi film industry, she stays distant from any groups or regular playback-singing circles. “It’s because lyrics have always been very important for me to do justice to a song. When I was in Delhi during the initial stage of my career, I was advised to do all kinds of work to stay relevant. And, I had listened to those people but soon I realised that wasn’t who I am in reality. I would call meeting Pakistani singer and composer Abida Parveen ji as the turning point of my life. We were part of Muzaffar Ali’s Jahan-e-Khusrau music festival and after that I moved towards ghazal and poetry and never looked back.”

Kavita got her first big break after Satish Kaushik heard her sing at the festival. He gave her the song Maula for the movie Vaada (2005).

She is selective about her projects. Kavita recalls how she refused Himesh Reshammiya’s song Hookah Bar because she didn’t like the lyrics. Though the song became a hit later, she still has no regrets because, ‘Had I done that, I would be offered the same kind of projects later.’ In fact, after Kavita did Tumhi Ho Bandhu for

Cocktail, she was flooded with offers for similar tracks.

Ask her who she likes to listen to and she has all the ghazal and sufi singer names on her fingertips. From Ghulam Ali to Jagjit Singh, to Farida Khanum to Nayyara Noor. “But I love Jagjit Singh ji. From his ghazals, I have learnt how to keep a simple composition and yet do wonders with it,” she adds.

Kavita has also done songs based on compositions of poets such as Amrita Pritam, Bashir Badr and

Kabir and others. On the recent trend of many singers singing all kinds of Ram dhun and bhajans after the pranpratishtha of Ram Mandi in Ayodhya, she has but one sentence to say, “Mujhe behti Ganga mein hath nahi dhona tha.” She explains, “Even though I had one song on Ram ready, I didn’t want to take advantage of the situation and promote something with personal interest. I might release it on Ram Navmi.” On collaborations, Seth longs to sing with Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh.

Interesting line-up

Apart from Main Kavita Hoon featuring Kavita Seth, the famous Rajasthani folk singer Kutle Khan’s Kutle Khan Project will also be a major draw. Fouzia Dastango and renowned vocalist Vidhi Sharma’s Musical Dastangoi on Meena Kumari, titled Meena Kumari Ki Dastaan is specially being done to commemorate Meena Kumari’s death anniversary, which falls on March 31. The artiste line-up of Kasauli Music Festival also includes Himalayan Routes, a folk-fusion band from Shimla, Hindi rock music band, HP 14-The Band and singers like Akassh Verma, Jasleen Aulakh and Vidhi Sharma.

Chandigarh connect

“Chandigarh has always given me so much love. I thoroughly enjoyed performing at Tagore Theatre back in the day. Also, I loved the vibe of Panjab University when I had performed in Youth Festival. Hope to see all those music lovers in Tricity at Kasauli Music Festival as well, ” says Kavita.