Shilpa Rao opens up about bagging her first song ‘Tose Naina’ from ‘Anwar’; Says, ‘It taught me to never take any recording lightly’

Singer Shilpa Rao, known for chartbuster songs like ‘Chaleya’, ‘Ishq Jaisa Kuch’, ‘Mere Mehboob’, ‘Ghungroo’, ‘Besharam Rang’, ‘Kaavaalaa’, ‘Chaleya’, ‘Chuttamalle’ and ‘Ro Lain De’, has built a career defined by restraint, emotion and depth. Recently, in an interview, she shared, how she bagged her first song, ‘Tose Naina’.In an interview with Mid-Day, Shilpa Rao recalled that ‘Tose Naina’ was her first-ever song, and one that continues to define her concerts even today. She said, "This was my first song, and many don’t realise it was a Mithoon composition for Manish Jha’s film Anwar. While the film may not be widely remembered, the song is still hummed everywhere and is the first one we start every concert with.”She spoke about approaching Mithoon during her college days with a demo CD, a practice common at the time. That simple step led to a scratch recording that became the final track. “Manish loved the first recording, which was kept as the final version, even the outro humming came from that take. It taught me to never take any recording lightly," she added.Music entered Shilpa’s life through her father, who trained her with discipline and strict expectations. She admitted, “My father had a hard time teaching me music,” describing their bond as a difficult balance between love and rigour. One moment stayed with her forever. “He came into my room and tore all my posters… Led Zeppelin, Leonardo DiCaprio.” His reasoning was blunt: “Do you realise you have not practiced in a week?”Later, she added that she thinks success would please her father. “If I get my first break he would be happy… if I got that many awards he would be happy but, he is only happy if I have the yearning to learn more.”