Kochi: The Hankama Music Indian Independent Music Award (IIMA) for Best Female Singer was shared by Malayalam singer Soni Sai and Bollywood singer Shreya Ghosh. Shreya Ghoshal was the best singer last year. This is the first time that this award has been given to a Malayali. Soni Sai won the award for the song that starts with ‘Karalile Kood Meendi Anthi…’ from the musical album ‘Aaro’. The song also has the distinction of having the music and lyrics composed by Soni Sai himself. The award is based on all of these.
The announcement and distribution of the award took place at the 2nd edition Hankama Music awards night in Mumbai. Soni Sai was chosen as the Best Female Singer from among the five finalists in the nominations from all the states of India. Shreya’s name was announced for the first time on stage as “Best Female Singer”. That is why his name was announced at a time when he thought he would not get the award. Only then did he know that he too had received the award. Soni Sai told ‘Metro Vartha’ that it felt like a dream.
Soni said that being considered alongside a world famous singer like Shreya Ghoshal is the biggest reward. Soni said he was very happy that the members of the jury appreciated his voice. The awards were in various categories such as Ghazal, Sufi, Carnatic, Jazz, Rock, Band, Best Lyrics and Best Female Singer. Abhay Jodhpurkar, who has sung many popular songs including in Tamil, won the award for the best singer.
He composed the music for the Sanskrit film ‘Samastyah’ and the Malayalam film ‘Jungle.com’. Songs sung in over 50 dubbing films in different languages. He has written, composed and sung over 250 albums. He has sung in more than 5,000 venues including abroad. Sung with Yesudas, P. Jayachandran, Madhu Balakrishnan, Biju Narayanan, Vasundhara Das, Madhuri and others. Sing in 28 films. In 1996, he sang for Silk Smitha in the film Sukhavasam composed by Mohan Sithara. Songs starting with Ona Veil Olamal Talikettum Naram sung with MG Sreekumar in Bombay on March 12 and Chakaramavin Kombat sung with Sonu Nigam became hits.
Sony has received many awards like Kamukara Purushothaman Award, Master K. Raghavan Memorial Award, Lions Club Award etc. Many awards have come to Sony but this is the first time that Sony has received an award in an All India level competition. The artiste has already composed music and written lyrics for a number of songs. Soni Sai currently lives in Edapalli, Ernakulam with her mother Abika Bai, her children Sai Sharan, Shiva Sharan and her sisters Sangeeta and Soumya. Late father of Hari Ram Prasad.
