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Muscat, Feb 19 (IANS) Until a few months ago she could barely string together a sentence in Hindi. Now Omani girl Asma Mohammed Rafi, who won many Indian hearts on a music reality show on TV and rubbed shoulders with top Bollywood faces, is back for a second stint.
The beautiful 18-year-old, whose faltering, funny sounding Hindi made her a rage on the "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge" last year, is on a two-year contract with Zee TV which produces the show.
"I am in love with India and I am thrilled by the way people showered their love. I feel like a celebrity in Mumbai as whenever I go out people mob me. I am also not allowed to go out alone," Asma told IANS here before leaving for India.
Wearing a black abaya (cloak) and her head covered with a scarf, she oozes confidence. "I used to speak atrocious Hindi and some words used to sound like abuses! I used to write the songs in Arabic without understanding them. Now I am much better."
She is tipped to travel to Thailand and South Africa and will be earning between Rs.200,000 to Rs.400,000 per show as she travels with Zee.
As one of the five finalists on the show last year she was hugely popular with the audiences and the star judges, including Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor, and was called back for the grand finale.
She floored everyone with her humorous antics and on her part has fallen "madly" in love with India.
Armed with a six-month visa, Asma, who was born in Muscat, said she has already recorded a song for music director Adesh Srivastava.
"I have been offered a role in a movie in the lead role and also to act in a television serial. But I can't take them up now as I am on contract for another two years," she said.
Asma will also be anchoring a "Sa Re Ga Ma" contest in Dubai, said her proud father Mohammed Rafi, who was named after the famous Indian playback singer.
"She is the cultural ambassador to India," Rafi said about Asma, who is the second of his nine children.
Rafi, who is an assistant manager in Ahlibank in Oman and also runs an audio-video business, said he was so named because even as he was born his father was attending a show by Bollywood singer Mohammed Rafi in Muscat and fell in love with the voice.
He never realised the significance of his name until his teens when an Indian neighbour told him about the singer. After that he too was hooked to Hindi songs and Bollywood movies.
That is what took him to a "Sa Re Ga Ma" show in 2006 in the Middle East. Though he was not selected, he befriended music composer and singer Bali Brahmbhatt, who is now helping him bring out a cassette of Rafi's songs sung by him.
Incidentally, his voice is uncannily similar to that of the Indian legend.
Though he was rejected, he egged his daughter on to take part in the show two years later.
Giving a lot of credit to her father, Asma said it was unthinkable for an Arab girl to wear short revealing dresses the way she did on the show. "My father has been a pillar of strength for me. He is my manager and advises me on everything. He has always encouraged me."
Sharing some of her experiences, Asma said she would never forget her first visit to a discothque in Mumbai.
"When I first went to a nightclub, I was hesitant and sat outside. Everyone had to cajole me to enter the place. It's difficult to forget one's culture," she added.
Her only regret - dropping out of Class 11 last year. But she is determined to complete her higher education in Mumbai.
"Not many people know about me in Oman. But among my relatives, friends and school I am a celebrity," she said with a mischievous smile.
She is all praise for India. "I love India and its people. I am eager to return to India and I am missing dal and chawal and even asked my mother to make it for me and she laughed because she hasn't even heard of it," Asma said.
(Kavita Bajeli-Datt can be contacted at kavita.d@ians.in)
Here I just posted this one for ya....
| Asma continues to wow India |
| Madhuparna Bhattacharjee, February 18, 2009 |
Her eyes radiate innocence when she smiles and her words exude sincerity. You must have seen her on TV and laughed your head off listening to her Hindi vocabulary.
But when it came to singing, she mesmerised one and all. Yes, she is Asma Mohammed Rafi from Oman, who has made it big in India's music industry.
Asma, who is in her late teens, has already appeared in scores of shows throughout India with many more lined up for the next few months, including some in Rajasthan, Assam and a trip to Bangkok to kick off her world tour in June.
Taking some time off from her busy schedule, she visited Muscat for a few days when we caught up with her.
Talking exclusively to TheWeek, Asma disclosed how it all started. Her father loves listening to the songs of music maestro Mohammed Rafi. While he sang a few of those and hummed their tunes, Asma followed ardently, right from a very tender age.
The little girl once requested him to listen to an Arabic dua. Her rendition left him spellbound. Her father then tutored her before she left to participate in a reality show, SaReGaMaPa Challenge 2009, in India.
She was in Class XI when she left for the reality show; the embassy here has now given her the clearance required to continue her studies in India.
Tears fill her eyes as she talks of Oman. "I can never forget my country. I conveyed my greetings to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on the National Day, while my father was holding the flag of Oman in the audience during my show that day."
But it also pains her, when she finds the people in India giving her so much love that she feels indebted to them, while "there is not even a word of appreciation or encouragement from my own people here."
While H E Sheikh Humaid bin Ali bin Sultan al Mani, the Ambassador of Oman to India, called Asma to congratulate her, saying, "'It is only after your participation that many in India have come to know that a country called Oman exists.' But there was absolutely no word from the government in the sultanate when I visited."
Asma narrates an incident after her elimination from the reality show. Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra was invited to one of the episodes as a special guest. "He refused to attend the programme as I was not there and told Zee TV that he would come if they could somehow bring me back to the show."
She also has many top Bollywood musicians on her side. She made her debut in World Cup 2011 with Aadesh Srivastava as the music director. Actress Kashmira Shah mimes along to her song in the film.
Both father and daughter are grateful to Bali Brahmbhat, another famous singer in India, for his continuous support. "In Mumbai, I stay at his house and he takes care of me as his daughter," she says.
Asma is working on a few songs for her debut album. "Times Music has asked me to prepare my songs and they will bring out my album." Asma is likely to be the host for Middle East SaReGaMaPa 2009, which should start in March or April.
Originally posted by: Dabulls23
Here I just posted this one for ya....
Asma continues to wow India Madhuparna Bhattacharjee, February 18, 2009
Her eyes radiate innocence when she smiles and her words exude sincerity. You must have seen her on TV and laughed your head off listening to her Hindi vocabulary.But when it came to singing, she mesmerised one and all. Yes, she is Asma Mohammed Rafi from Oman, who has made it big in India's music industry.
Asma, who is in her late teens, has already appeared in scores of shows throughout India with many more lined up for the next few months, including some in Rajasthan, Assam and a trip to Bangkok to kick off her world tour in June.
Taking some time off from her busy schedule, she visited Muscat for a few days when we caught up with her.
Talking exclusively to TheWeek, Asma disclosed how it all started. Her father loves listening to the songs of music maestro Mohammed Rafi. While he sang a few of those and hummed their tunes, Asma followed ardently, right from a very tender age.
The little girl once requested him to listen to an Arabic dua. Her rendition left him spellbound. Her father then tutored her before she left to participate in a reality show, SaReGaMaPa Challenge 2009, in India.
She was in Class XI when she left for the reality show; the embassy here has now given her the clearance required to continue her studies in India.
Tears fill her eyes as she talks of Oman. "I can never forget my country. I conveyed my greetings to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said on the National Day, while my father was holding the flag of Oman in the audience during my show that day."
But it also pains her, when she finds the people in India giving her so much love that she feels indebted to them, while "there is not even a word of appreciation or encouragement from my own people here."
While H E Sheikh Humaid bin Ali bin Sultan al Mani, the Ambassador of Oman to India, called Asma to congratulate her, saying, "'It is only after your participation that many in India have come to know that a country called Oman exists.' But there was absolutely no word from the government in the sultanate when I visited."
Asma narrates an incident after her elimination from the reality show. Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra was invited to one of the episodes as a special guest. "He refused to attend the programme as I was not there and told Zee TV that he would come if they could somehow bring me back to the show."
She also has many top Bollywood musicians on her side. She made her debut in World Cup 2011 with Aadesh Srivastava as the music director. Actress Kashmira Shah mimes along to her song in the film.
Both father and daughter are grateful to Bali Brahmbhat, another famous singer in India, for his continuous support. "In Mumbai, I stay at his house and he takes care of me as his daughter," she says.
Asma is working on a few songs for her debut album. "Times Music has asked me to prepare my songs and they will bring out my album." Asma is likely to be the host for Middle East SaReGaMaPa 2009, which should start in March or April.
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