POPCORN SHOUTOUT STAR: MAHIMA Sogani
The ‘Break Song’ sounds so heartfelt! What is the story behind it?
I see a lot of people around me taking breaks in their relationship these days. I also took one!
Not a breakup, a break! Where partners decide not to talk to each other for some time and leave the decision of being together post its completion.
Now, however mutual the decision can sound like, there is always one person who wants it more, and for the person at the receiving end, it becomes really toxic!
To love or to not! Will he come back? What if he doesn’t? But I love him. But the interest is already lost? Why am I still in it? It’s complex and these lingering feelings sting!
I just felt like conveying these complicated emotions through my song.
Were you involved in acting and singing as a kid?
As a kid, I was very involved in extracurricular activities. Be it singing, acting, drawing, elocution, debates, quizzes, I was there everywhere! Additionally, I used to do theater. I wrote several plays and I would always make the lead protagonist a girl like me (so that my acting role is secure 😉 ), one of them even made it to the National level.
Music has been a part of me since my childhood. My grandmother had a golden voice. My mum used to keep singing songs at home, through her I know all the 1970s-90s songs. (even the wrong lyrics she used to sing for some, are etched in my memory!) Singing was something I always loved! I used to sing bhajans at temples for various festivals, I used to make different melodies using the pooja lines!
For music competitions, I used to write and compose my own songs and perform. I wrote my first song in 6th standard. And then there were many, some of them sound cringe now!
How has your journey been from being a Google Cloud Engineer to an actor, voice artist and singer?
It’s been amazing! I have enjoyed every bit of it. I loved my corporate job also.
I used to work all week and on weekends act in short films, do voice over projects, sing and give auditions. Then I realized, this is all that I wanted! So I quit my job and shifted to Mumbai. I acted in several theater plays, ads and web series. Music was going on simultaneously, I was training in the Suresh Wadkar Academy. I also started doing audiobooks, something that I always wanted to do as a bookworm! And then Covid happened, everything came to a halt, no work was happening. I shifted to Goa, and started my own studio, and took up several voice projects for audiobooks, ads and documentaries. I have done about 50 audiobooks for authors like Agatha Christie, Volga which are available on Storytel, Audible and several other platforms.
I also got into music very deeply, the inspiration was a music band I met in Goa, Terra Rosa Gypsies. I started singing with them and I found myself immersed in the magic that music was doing to me.
What do you enjoy the most - acting or singing and why?
Honestly, I can’t choose one! And there is a third thing also, tennis!
I think acting and singing are very similar, in both you express, in acting through your body and in singing through your voice. But the internal process of honesty is the same!
Rule 1 of acting, don’t act! Rule 1 of singing, don’t sing! Just feel!
What are your future works that might be lined up?
Currently, I’m performing a unique-format, comedy storytelling music show, ‘Shuru Se Shuru Karein?’, for which I created 10 original songs.
It showcases who I am, an expressionist, a khichdi of acting, music, comedy, and stories!
Break Song is a part of the 10-song series. We’ll be releasing all these songs one by one every month!
I am blessed to have a great team, be it musicians or multi-talented friends and we are taking this show to a lot of Indian cities like Pune, Ahmedabad, and many others and we aim to spread this art form all across the globe!
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