Mid-Day Anniversary Special: Before Bollywood, Shalmali Kholgade did live shows at Powai restaurant

Before Pareshaan from Ishaqzaade (2012) catapulted her into the spotlight and kicked off a successful playback singing career, Shalmali Kholgade was just another Mumbai artiste saying yes to everything life threw at her. One of the first places that said yes back to her talent was Out of the Blue, a cozy, ambient restaurant in Powai.

The beat and heat is on for Shalmali Kholgade

“I had just given my TY [third year] exam in college and had all the time in the world to explore which way I wanted my life to go. I was in the habit of saying ‘Yes, I’ll do it!’ to anything that came my way. I was doing one-off shows in Hard Rock Cafe or Jazz by the Bay or Blue Frog. A friend of mine and multi-instrumentalist, Nigel Rajaratnam, asked me if I’d like to sing at Out of the Blue every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” recounted Kholgade.

To the youngster, only 22 then, it sounded like the perfect start, getting paid to do what she loves. “I would get paid per show. We’d start around 7 pm and go on till 10 pm or so with a break in between. We would see couples on dates and families on their day out. It was fun,” she smiled. There was another incentive, she chuckled. “Our dinners would be at the restaurant on gig days and we enjoyed the food!”

Kholgade belts it out at Out of the Blue in Powai. Pic/Sukrit Nagaraj

Around 2012, Out of the Blue was an early incubator of live music in a setting that felt more like a living room than a stage. The singer recalled that her first evening was an unusual experience. “I wasn’t used to people not actively listening to me while I’m on stage. But here, we were ambient live music. I understood that day and in subsequent shows how to manage expectations and perform to an audience who may or may not engage with you.”

Every artiste seeks an audience, and Kholgade had to find hers. “Nigel taught me many tricks. My favourite one was where we’d pick up a chit from a basket we kept in front of us. He would randomly make up people’s names and announce over the mic, ‘Oh, it’s Pooja and Rahul’s anniversary. Rahul wants to dedicate the next song to Pooja. Happy anniversary, guys!’ People would look around to see who Rahul and Pooja were,” she laughed. But the trick worked. “After that, people would walk up and drop their song requests into the basket. We had a set of songs like Valerie by Amy Winehouse, If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys, some Bryan Adams and Backstreet Boys numbers.”

Kholgade performed at the Powai restaurant between 2012 and 2014, before heading to Bollywood. Today, she has not only Hindi hits like Daaru Desi, Balam Pichkari, and Lat Lag Gayee, but also Bengali, Tamil and Telugu film songs to her credit. What is the one piece of advice someone like her, who has built a successful singing career from scratch, have for aspiring artistes? “It’s important to jump through different hoops. Put yourself in situations that you hadn’t planned for.

One inevitably learns a lot through those experiences. It’s in those spaces that we discover our other interests, strengths, and make connections.”