Reewa Rathod to put her skills on display at January 17 gig

Reewa Rathod

Given that she's only in her mid-20s, Reewa Rathod doesn't surprise us with her innocent claims; Sample this: Music is everything, I have nothing else to live for. Yet, she negates her age when she describes the line-up of songs for her upcoming concert on January 17.

"I'll sing thumri, tappa, Carnatic, Punjabi folk, old Hindi classics, Marathi, English pop, and some of my own compositions," says the daughter of Roop Kumar Rathod and Sunali Rathod. With a repertoire that boasts of songs in Turkish and Spanish as well, the young singer can certainly raise eyebrows given the skills she's acquired.

"I started learning piano at the age of four and did eight grades from the Royal School of London. While I've learnt Carnatic and Hindustani classical, I'm good at picking up [languages]. So, I can sing in Arabic, Spanish and Japanese too."

Rathod talks about being the youngest composer for a Gulzar song - Maula, 2018 - with delight. "A few years ago, I made him hear a few songs, and he told me to take some time to work on myself. That's when my resolve of getting him to write for me grew stronger. I kept improving my skills. I wanted to create something that he would love. Eventually, I went to him last year again. This time, he loved one of my tunes. Together we decided to work on it." An upcoming saraiki folk song, Saval, will see her collaborate with Zakir Hussain. "He heard it and said he'd love to produce it. I've added Spanish [music] to it."

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