Antara Nandy

Some Lesser Known Facts About Antara Nandy

• Antara Nandy is an Indian playback singer and a social media influencer. In 2022, she came into the limelight after she lent her voice to the Tamil song Alaikadel from the film Ponniyin Selvan: I.

• Antara was born in Sivasagar, Assam. At the age of three, Antara used to sing. Later, her parents relocated to Kolkata for Antara’s better training in music. ^[6]shethepeople

• At four and a half years, she started her training for Hindustani classical music under the Indian musician Ustad Rashid Khan in Kolkata.

  

• In 2009, Antara made her television debut with the reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs. In the reality show, she went on to be one of the three finalists. In an interview, she recalled the television show and said,
  

  Back then we had a driver bhaiya who drove me to school and tuition with whom I planned to go the auditions in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs show and sent him to stand in the queue so when my turn comes, he would call my mum and we would have to go for it.” ^[7]shethepeopletv

  

• In 2010, she lent her voice to the Assamese music album Ei Jibon Nohoi Xuna Bondhu. Subsequently, she sang a Bengali music album titled ‘Eso Matoh Lakkhi Devi’ (2011) and an Assamese music album titled ‘Tumi Aaahibaa Buli.’

  

• According to Antara Nandy, at 12, her puberty caused her a voice change that gave a downfall in her career; however, Antara decided not to give up. In an interview, she recalled an incident where she received feedback to leave her career in music. She quoted,
  

  I remember for the feedback for a recording a person called me and said Antara, don’t sing, singing is not your cup of tea, focus on your studies and become an engineer like your parents.” ^[8]shethepeopletv

• Antara started her training at the KM College of Music & Technology, Chennai, where she presented a musical piece that earned accolades from the musician and the founder of the college, A.R. Rahman.

  

• In 2019, Antara, while pursuing her graduation, did a summer internship with Qyuki Digital Media and an internship with Viacom18 Media Private Limited. ^[9]LinkedIn

• In 2019, Antara appeared on YouTube’s talent hunt reality show ARRived. In the reality show, A. R. Rahman, Shah Rukh Khan, Shaan, Clinton Cerejo and Vidya Vox participated as the judges. According to Antara, before the YouTube show ended, she got a call from A.R. Rehman’s studio for an offer to sing alongside A.R. Rehman in the song ‘Nis Din’ from the show Jammin. In an interview, she said,
  

  A couple of days before the finale, I was rushing to write my second-year final exams. That’s when I received a call from AR Rahman Studio who sent me a ticket to come to Chennai. My parents told me that exams may come and go but I should catch the flight ^[10]Film Companion

  

• In 2020, amid the nationwide lockdown, Antara Nandy and her younger sister Ankita Nandy started a YouTube playlist titled ‘Balcony Concerts’ that went viral on social media. In the music playlist, they used random things like salt containers, chopsticks and cups to create the background rhythm for the music albums. In an interview, Antara talked about the playlist and said,
  

  In high school, we started spending a lot of time with each other, singing and documenting those as videos. That was the time when we first put out our videos as Nandy Sisters on social media where we’d sing songs using random things that you can find just lying around the house.

She added,

Yes, random things such as cups, slabs, and chopsticks. We’d use the salt container as a shaker. Our motive then was to tell people that if you really want to make music, you can make it through anything; you can make it anywhere and anytime. You don’t necessarily need musical instruments or other musicians to come and accompany you all the time. And we went viral.  ^[11]parentCircle

• Subsequently, she lent her voice to various music albums like the Bengali song Gouri Elo (2020), the Maithili song Aayi Re Badraa (2020), and the Bengali song Purano Shei Diner Kotha (2020).

• In September 2022, she made her playback debut with the Tamil song Alaikadel from the film Ponniyin Selvan: I. In the first week of September 2022, she got a call from A. R. Rahman studio that her recorded song was selected for the film Ponniyin Selvan: I. According to Antara, she sang the song before the Coronavirus lockdown. In an interview, while recalling the Tamil song Alaikadel, she said,
  

  I couldn’t immediately remember what song they were talking about. It was two years back and whenever I go to Chennai, I sing a lot of scratches within a stipulated time. The sound engineer told me that I had sung this song in forty minutes. I was panicking because generally, an original song takes two to two and a half hours to record.” ^[12]Film Companion

• In September 2022, Antara Nandy sang the Telegu, Kannada, and Hindi versions of the Tamil song alaikadel from the film Ponniyin Selvan: I.