Time to create and consume great music
While many believe that Lockdown has deeply hurt the prospects of singers and musicians across the world, to me its been a great boon.
Music is life’s main passion for Noopur. She sings and trains people to sing. She specialises In singing Ghazals, light classical, Bollywood covers & Punjabi songs. From Noor Jehan and Iqbal Bano to traditional Punjabi Folk and even Bollywood Classics, she sings them all with great ease. Her soulful rendition of several tracks and Shabad during the Guru Nanak Parkash Parab sound and light show at Sultanpur Lodhi were greatly appreciated. She has also recently released her version of the shabad, Mittar Pyare Nu, to high praise. Her version of Saigal classic Main Kya Janoo got her early recognition and awards. She has had eight tracks released on PTC Records.
Born in a family where Theatre was part of daily life, she took to music and acting since the age of six. Her father, Dr. Charan Dass Sidhu, considered to be the Shakespeare of Punjabi Theatre, instilled a deep sense of appreciation for art and music into her since childhood. “Once we told him to buy us a TV since we were fond of listening to music on Doordarshan; he went and brought back a harmonium and said – create your own music,” Noopur fondly recounts. “That made me a bit upset at that time as we wanted to enjoy television like other kids. But then slowly the magic of creating music took over and then music became life,” she adds.
She was fortunate enough to have trained early in her life under the great Padamshri Ustad Hafeez Ahmed Khan of the Rampur-Sehswan Gharana. That training honed her pakad over sur and taal. But her inspiration in junior school was her music teacher Indu Chawla who made her fall in love with ghazals. Noopur also trained later under Vidushi Uma Garg of Delhi gharana.
Noopur has now set up a home studio where she records with her son, Saarang, who she says has a better ear for music than her. He records and mixes all her songs while accompanying her on various instruments too.
Noopur also is quite innovative. She has shot some of her music videos with mobile phones and they fetched her more than million views. The incredible mix of talented singing, expert sound recording and innovative video making has endeared her to fans across countries. Her recent rendition of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s “Yaad (Dasht-e-Tanhai)” got great response from across the border.
Noopur achieved stardom with her soulful renditions of classics like Dil Da Jaani, Nimmi Nimmi, Maahi Ve Laike Chhuttiyaan Mahine Diyan; and there has been no looking back for her since.
Noopur has also done several solo concerts to packed houses and has a very dedicated following in Delhi and Gurgaon where she lives and performs. She says, “While many believe that Lockdown has deeply hurt the prospects of singers and musicians across the world, to me its been a great boon. I got the time to create songs at home and then the audience had all the time to appreciate the songs. Both me as an artist and the audiences have the luxury of being at home and having plenty of time to create and consume great music.” Noopur has done live e-concerts on PTC PUNJABI and her facebook page and advises other artists to also make the most of this time in honing their skills, discovering newer pastures, and keeping at their craft relentlessly.