Music contest winner hopes to launch own label someday

Backed by business administration skills, 25-year-old Anurag Mishra, who won the Royal Stag Make it Large contest, Indore edition, hopes to have his own music label someday.

The Rourkela boy completed his Masters in Business Administration from IIM Indore this year and will soon join a popular IT services company as a global engagement manager. Going by his qualifications, one can't remotely associate him with singing.

But Mishra, who is passionate about music, says after winning the Royal Stag Make it Large contest, Indore edition, he is encouraged to do something in the field of music.

"I participated in the online contest. I sang a Bollywood song ('Tum hi ho') and uploaded the video on a site and then the judges selected me. This has given me encouragement to build a career in music rather than just continuing it as a hobby," Mishra told IANS here.

For being victorious, he got the golden chance to be the opening act of Royal Stag MTV Bollyland -- a series of multi-city music concerts that bring together popular Bollywood numbers with heady electronic beats -- Indore edition, which saw performances by popular musicians like Atif Aslam and Hard Kaur on Sunday.

"I have done 20 to 25 shows in the past, but not of this magnitude. I never thought that I would get to perform in front of someone as big as Atif Aslam," said the electrical engineering graduate.

Before taking the plunge, he wants to brush up his vocal skills.

"I'm not a trained singer. I plan on taking vocal lessons, otherwise I won't be able to compete with others in the field," said Mishra, who could only make it to the second round of popular reality singing show "Indian Idol" three years ago.

He has made up his mind that he wants to pursue music in the near future, but not necessarily as a playback singer -- something that most of the aspiring musicians of India wish to be.

"I think I will stick to doing live shows. Such shows have an element of excitement. There is risk and no retakes. I wish to perform all over the world. Playback singing is good too. If you get it, it will be a plus point, but I like to perform live more," said the budding singer, who enjoys trekking.

He doesn't want his education to go waste.

"I've business knowledge and love music so, it will help me to start studio or label of my own," said the fan of Sufi music.

(The writer's trip is at the invitation of Pernod Ricard India. Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at Natalia.n@ians.in)