Chaitanya Padukone 

Defying her ethnic image, the singer goes western in the show Dhoom Macha De

Pop and playback singer Richa Sharma had a ‘ball’ as she belted out the Titanic theme song in English as part of the Valentine’s Day special episodes of  Dhoom Macha De.

Richa said, “Since I have an ethnic image, it was a pleasant shock for all the three judges (Shankar Mahadevan, Prasoon Joshi and Sharmila Tagore) when they heard me sing an English number and in a western avatar. I even sang the soulful Jab koi baat bigad jaaye (Jurm) number with a jazzy flavour. Sharmilaji seemed  so fascinated that  even after pack-up she showered compliments.” Since she is very fond of Shramila, Richa dislikes it when people comment that the veteran has ‘no knowledge of singing’.  “No way, Sharmilaji  is well-versed with the nuances of music. She has  done lip-sync to scores of her yesteryear melodious numbers. She is musically-inclined,” defends Richa.

Richa is not obsessed with winning. “My main mission is audiences should see me as a vibrant performer. If I reach the finals it would be a big bonanza,” she asserts.

The singer, who sang the raga-based title track of Saawariya, has given the playback for films including Sunny Deol’s forthcoming Chamku, Mukesh Bhatt’s Jannat and Sadiyaan, which has music by Adnan Sami. She also plans to release her pop-album by end of this year.