Alyssia Vibha Sharma is an Indian singer
who released her first album in the 1990s. She made her foray into Indian pop domain with her debut album ''Mehndi'' (2000), HMV SaReGaMa Records, which was well received and was one of the top three best selling private albums of that year. The title song "Mehandi Lagaoongi Main" became a superhit.
Early life and background
Alyssia Vibha Sharma was born and brought up in London and hails from a Hindu Punjabi-
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...
background who won a singing competition in which more than 3000 South-East Asians from all over Europe had participated.
As a result, she took to learning Indian classical music under the tutelage of Parshottam Kapila in London, and later on, when she came to India she continued her training under the guidance of
Pandit Ajay Pohankar, Geeta Prem (sister to singer Jagjit Singh), amongst other gurus.
Aside from her music accomplishments, Sharma has also done a BSc(Hons) from a university in London as well as post graduate certification qualifications.
Career
Sharma started her career in
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
when she got her first break with
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is an Indian National Award and Filmfare Award winning musician, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film indus ...
, who, once having heard her in London, offered her to sing for two songs in ''
Ishq
Ishq ( ar, عشق, ''‘išq'') is an Arabic word meaning "love" or "passion", also widely used in other languages of the Muslim world and the Indian subcontinent.
The word ''ishq'' does not appear in the Quran, which instead uses derivatives o ...
'' (1997).
Bulandi, Hadh Kar Di Apne, Dil Dhoondhta Hai were other feathers in her cap, and she also sang "Vaishnva Jana To" for Kamal Hassan's controversial film ''
Hey Ram
''Hey Ram'' is a 2000 Indian period crime drama film written, directed and produced by Kamal Haasan, who also stars. It was simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi languages. Shah Rukh Khan plays a supporting role, making his debut in Tamil ci ...
''. In addition, she has sung for Tamil, Bhojpuri and Punjabi films.
She did some more playback singing before launching her first album with
Anand Raj Anand
Anand Raaj Anand is an Indian composer, lyricist and playback singer in the Hindi film industry. He was nominated for the Best Music Director Filmfare Award for ''Kaante'' (2003).
Early life
Anand Raj was born on 8 November 1961 in Delhi in ...
titled ''Mehndi''. This was one of the few private albums that gained a high level of sales around the millennium era and was one of the top three best selling private albums in India. She also sang a Tamil song for Kartik Raja, son of
Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...
, Inde Siripinai, which was criticized for wrong pronunciation but despite this, the song was at No.1 in the South Indian music charts for several weeks and later Kartik Raja was quoted to say "I have received a lot of positive feedback from music lovers asking me to work with Vibha Sharma more often".
She is known in the UK as Alyssia Sharma, working with renowned Punjabi DJ's and producers Panjabi Hit Squad, releasing an album self-titled ''Alyssia'', which was one of the top five best-selling albums of the year. Three songs off the album reigned at the No.1 spot on all the primary Asian music charts within UK and Europe. Sharma was also nominated in the category of 'Best Female Singer' for the UK AMA awards for ''Deewana''.
Sharma has been performing all over UK and Europe since the release of ''Deewana''. Some of her more prestigious appearances have included the Viva La Glam show sponsored by MAC Make Up company in Toronto, Canada and Apple Store Bollywood Themed Carnival, Regent Street, London.
Sharma released videos for two tracks on her album, "Deewana" and "Tera Pyar Soneya Veh". She featured on Ms.Scandalous' 2008 album and video, ''AAG'', thereafter sang a duet with Raghav; "Thoda Thoda" and released a video of a live rendition of "Rab Rakha" in 2012, recorded for Panjabi Hit Squad's album.
Filmography
Albums
*''Mehndi''
*''Alyssia''
*''Deewana''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Vibha Alyssia
1982 births
Living people
Bollywood playback singers
Indian women playback singers
Singers from London
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers