Suzanne D'Mello

Suzanne D'Mello, formerly known as Suzie Q, is one of India's Top Female Vocalists. Gifted with a rich, warm and velvety voice, Suzanne's music spans a broad canvas, ranging from Solo Hits in Bollywood, Remixes, Advertisement Jingles to Live Performances with renowned musicians at prestigious events across various genres like Bollywood Music, Pop, R'nB, Soul and Jazz in India and all over the world.

Career

Over the years, Suzanne has worked with several music directors including A.R. Rahman, Pritam, Sajid Wajid, Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Salim-Sulaiman, Anu Malik, Bappi Lahiri and Vishal-Shekhar. She has sung up to 50 songs as a Playback singer in Bollywood. In 2006, Suzanne sang her first playback song for music director Pritam - "Khalish" from the film ' Chocolate'. The song that first got her recognized was "Mahiya" from the film ' Awaarapan', for which she received her First nomination at the Stardust Awards in 2008. This was followed by a string of superhits like " Jee Karda" from 'Singh Is Kinng', "Pyaar Karke" from 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects', "Signaal" from 'Bhagam Bhag', "Meow" from 'Golmaal Returns'.

Her super hit "Aye Bachchu" from the Blockbuster 'Ghajini', earned her a nomination at the Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards 2009. Following this was yet another String of Super Hit Songs like "Surili Ankhiyon Wale" from 'Veer', "Rishtey Naatey" from 'De Dana Dan', "Chiggy Wiggy" from Blue where Suzanne collaborated yet again with A.R.Rahman and Australian Pop Star, Kylie Minogue, and "Naina Miley" from 'Robot'. Her Current Super Hit Songs that are topping the charts are "Challa" from 'Crook' and "No Problem" from 'No Problem'. Besides Bollywood, Suzanne has a few Hits even in the South. She received great recognition and appreciation for her vocals on "Hosannah" from "Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya" (Tamil), "Nalamdhana" from 'Silambattam' (Tamil) and currently for the song "Ayyayo Ayyayo" from 'Veera Parampare' (Kannada).

Besides Bollywood, Suzanne has Two International Hits in "Latika's Theme" and "Dreams On Fire" from the Oscar Award Winning Film and Grammy Award Winning Soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire.

Some of Suzanne's early influences on her music include Quincy Jones, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, Kishore Kumar, R.D. Burman, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles,Sting etc. It is quite clear then why Suzanne's Musical style has such a strong western and R&B orientation.

Suzanne loves performing for a crowd. She has been performing Live for the last 17 years. She has shared the stage with world renowned artists and musicians like A. R. Rahman, Louis Banks, Zakir Hussain, Ranjit Barot, Usha Uthup, Vijay Prakash, Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Chitra, Javed Ali, Benny Dayal, Raja Haasan, Gino Banks, Sheldon D'silva, Tanvi Shah, Sharon Prabhakar, Gary Lawyer, Mehnaz, Shibani Kashyap, Suneeta Rao, Merlin D'Souza, etc.

However, Suzanne's love for everything Bollywood just kept growing over time and continues to grow with each passing day. She gets a high on the adrenalin and atmosphere of performing Live. She was a part of the Indian Leg of the 'Jai Ho' World Tour, performing with A.R.Rahman from April 2009 – January 2010. Suzanne, along with renowned actor, Boman Irani, represented Indian Art, Music & Film at the Masala! Mehndi! Masti! 10th Anniversary Festival in Toronto, Canada, in July 2010.

Suzanne is a popular figure in the music fraternity and one of India's most celebrated western-style female vocalists. Suzanne lives in Mumbai, home to Bollywood.

Discography

Filmography as Singer

• 2012 – Ehsas (Hindi)
• 2011 – Rockstar (Hindi)
• 2011 – Sega (Telugu)
• 2011 – Veppam (Tamil)
• 2010 – Veera Parampare (Kannada)
• 2010 – Help (Hindi)
• 2010 – Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa ( Tamil )
• 2010 – Ye Maaya Chesaave ( Telugu )
• 2010 – Kites ( Hindi )
• 2010 – Veer ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Trump Card (Hindi)
• 2009 – De Dana Dan ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Blue ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Main Aurr Mrs Khanna ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Wanted ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Aagey Se Right ( Hindi )
• 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire (Hindi), (English)
• 2008 – Silambattam ( Tamil )
• 2008 – Ghajini ( Hindi )
• 2008 – Yuvvraaj ( Hindi )
• 2008 – Drona ( Hindi )
• 2008 – Ru Ba Ru (Hindi)
• 2008 – Mr. Black Mr. White ( Hindi )
• 2007 – Go ( Hindi )
• 2007 – Bhagam Bhag ( Hindi )
• 2007 – Dhoom 2 ( Hindi )
• 2007 — Awarapan ( Hindi )^[1]
• 2006 – Apna Sapna Money Money ( Hindi )
• 2006 – Pyaar Ke Side Effects ( Hindi )
• 2006 – Naksha ( Hindi )
• 2006 – The Killer ( Hindi )
• 2006 – Men Not Allowed (Hindi)
• 2005 – Khamosh – Khauff Ki Raat ( Hindi )

Filmography as Lyricist

• 2009– Veer
• 2009 – Main Aurr Mrs Khanna ( Hindi )
• 2006 – Apna Sapna Money Money ( Hindi )

Awards

• Nominated: Vijay Award for Best Female Playback Singer (2011) – Mazhai Varum Arikuri (Veppam)
• Nominated: Apsara Award for Best Female Playback Singer (2010) – Aye Bachchu (Ghajini)
• Nominated: Tata Indicom Mirchi Music Awards Upcoming Vocalist Of The Year (2009) – Aye Bachchu (Ghajini)
• Nominated: Stardust Awards Best Debut Female Playback Singer (2008)- Mahiya (Awaarapan)

References