| Reena Bhardwaj | |
|---|---|
Reena Bhardwaj |
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| Background information | |
| Born | London, UK |
| Origin | Indian |
| Genres | Traditional music, Pop music, World music, Bollywood music |
| Occupations | Singer/songwriter/Recording artist |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Website | Official website |
Reena Bhardwaj is a British Indian singer, songwriter and recording artist best known for her collaborations with AR Rahman and Nitin Sawhney. Versatile to genre and language, her repertoire includes a variety of Indian Traditional, Bollywood, World and Popular styles sung in various Indian languages (Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu) and English.
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Reena Bhardwaj was born and raised up in west London. From a very young age she displayed an intrinsic flair for the Indian arts, especially music and dance. She trained in the North Indian Classical Dance form Kathak and started performing on stage from the age of 9. During her teens, focus shifted to singing and she began to impress audiences as she sang complex compositions effortlessly.
An avid academic, Reena Bhardwaj chose to pursue a professional career in Business Management, while continuing to develop her musical interests on the side. She won a sponsorship on the Windsor Fellowship Management program and went on to graduate with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the London School of Economics. She briefly worked in corporate marketing and communications in the City of London.
Reena describes her musical career as a “turn of fate” which came about when she received an unexpected call from her favorite Indian composer, AR Rahman, while studying at the London School of Economics.
With Rahman, she recorded her debut song, "Baba Kichhu Tha", a Tamil romantic duet with S. P. Balasubramaniam for Rajinikanth and Manisha Koirala starrer Baba in 2002. But it was in 2004, she recorded a popular solo song, “Yeh Rishta” for the Bollywood film soundtrack Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities directed by MF Hussain . She became the first British Asian Artist to be nominated for a Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer and the MTV Immies Award for Best New Film Talent of 2004.
Reena has since featured on a number of AR Rahman’s Bollywood and Tamil/Telegu film soundtracks including Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Sakkarakatti and most recently she has recorded a romantic melody Khilli Re from Raavan with music by Rahman.
Reena’s has a long-standing collaborations with the Nitin Sawhney, which began with a soulful rendition of the epic Indian poem “Heer” by Waris Shah for Sawhney's 2003 album Human (V2). Along with Sawhney, she co-wrote the popular song “Mausam” on Philtre (V2) and featured on the haunting tracks “Koyal” and “The Search”. Her most recent collaboration with Sawhney is the song “Ek Jaan” for the London Undersound (2008) on which she also sings alongside Paul McCartney in “My Soul”.
Reena has been a guest artist on many of Sawhney’s World tours and has performed at some of the world’s most culturally elite venues including Glastonbury Festival, WOMAD in Taormina (Sicily), Jazz Café, The Barbican Centre, The Royal Festival Hall, The Roundhouse for the BBC Electric Proms in 2008. One of her most notable performances was The BBC Proms 2007 at The Royal Albert Hall where she appeared alongside Nitin Sawhney, Natacha Atlas, & Anoushka Shankar.
She has also lent her voice to Sawhney’s film scores, namely Channel 4’s Second Generation, Bharat BalaProduction’s Hari Om, and the 1929 Silent Indian Classic, A Throw of Dice by Franz Osten, which premiered with the London Symphony Orchestra and subsequently performed with national orchestras in Holland, Italy, New Zealand, US and Canada.
She has collaborated with the UK’s renowned dance duo Basement Jaxx, and percussion king Trilok Gurtu and band (Festival Músicas do Mundo in Sines, Portugal). Her songs also feature on various compilation CDs (Ministry of Sound’s, Angel Beach; Pathaan’s Indian Sunset) and Sony Legacy’s 2009 Compilation CD The Best Of AR Rahman.
“Baba Kichchu”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Baba (2002)
“Tak Dheen” Music: A R Rahman, Bombay Dreams (2003)
“Heer”, Nitin Sawhney, Human (2003)
“Falling” Aqualung & Nitin Sawhney, Human (2003)
“Yeh Rishta”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (2004)
“Mausam”, co-written with Nitin Sawhney, Philtre (2005)
“Koyal (Songbird)”, Nitin Sawhney, Philtre (2005)
“The Search”, Nitin Sawhney, Philtre (2005)
“Dead Man”, Nitin Sawhney, Philtre (2005)
“Sandesa”, [[Nitin Sawhney & The London Symphony Orchestra, Film: Franz_Osten’s A Throw of Dice (2005)
“Everybody”, Basement Jaxx, Crazy Itch Radio (2005)
“Main Vari Vari”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2006)
“Naan Epodhu”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Sakkarakatti (2008)
“My Soul”, Paul McCartney & Nitin Sawhney, London Undersound (2008)
“Ek Jaan”, co-written with Nitin Sawhney, London Undersound(2008)
”Khilli Re”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Raavan (2010)
“Puli Gharshana”, Music: A R Rahman, Film: Komaram Puli (2010)
Other film soundtracks and compilations in which Reena features:
The Best of A R Rahman, Sony Legacy (2009)
Aaoji: Classic Sufi Hits',' Sony Music (2009)
Life Goes On Music: Soumik Dutta, Storm Glass Productions (2009)
In the Mind Of Nitin Sawhney, District 6 (2007)
Angel Beach, Ministry of Sound (2005)
American Daylight, Amaan Ali Khan (2005)
Frank Osten’s A Throw of Dice, Nitin Sawhney & The London Symphony Orchestra (2005)
Hari Om Film Score: Nitin Sawhney, Bharat Bala Productions (2004)
Second Generation, Film Score: Nitin Sawhney, Channel 4 (2003)
Indian Sunset DJ Pathaan (2003)
Reena Bhardwaj OFFICIAL website
A Throw of Dice OFFICIAL website
Nitin Sawhney OFFICIAL website
AR Rahman OFFICIAL website
Reena Bhardwaj - Internet Movie Database
History Talking Database
BBC Electric Proms
BBC Proms
BBC Proms Review
Reena Bhardwaj on amazon.com