Singer Sharma wins heart across genres

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 21: Rudra Shekhar Sharma is an emerging singer. He has shaped a unique identity within a short period of time in Nepali music industry. Based on his incessant engagement and practice in various musical genres, Sharma has succeed in making his presence in Nepali folk songs. He sings in Nepali, Hindi and English and can easily fit himself into multiple musical genres.

My aim is to adapt to an inspiring and cross-cultural musical journey in life, Sharma said over the phone.

Born in Jhapa district, Koshi Province, Sharma began singing from his school life. He had keen interest to participate in cultural programmes organised in schools. Occasionally, he was invited by his peers to sing songs from various Hindi and Nepali movies. He used to hold the spectators spellbound through his performances in schools and community gathering.

He said he was inspired to sing because of his parents. His father G.P. Sharma, a lyricist, and his mother Bhumika Upadhyaya, a teacher, created a facilitating environment at home to transform his passion of singing into reality.

"My parents are the first teachers for me who encouraged me to grow up as a singer," he said.  "In the beginning, I sang many songs composed by my parents."

Later, his parents migrated from Jhapa to Kathmandu for his further education. He further honed his singing skills in Kathmandu by joining musical training institutions. He formally engaged in musical practices in institutions like Paribartan Nepal and Shruti Sangeet Vidyalaya in Kathmandu.

After his formal schooling in singing, he began to release his formal recording. The ghazal entitled “Dukhdina Ma” was his first formal recording. This ghazal was so impressive that served as a turning point for his career path. It was incorporated in his debut solo album Rupam (2018). It featured five tracks. This album provided him an opportunity to win the ‘Best New Singer’ award at the Sixth National Rapti Music Awards programme. This was the first regional award won by Sharma. Sharma then held the digital platform to expand the range of his audience. Around 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, group gatherings and musical performance in in live were restricted. In such circumstances, digital platforms supported him to reach his audiences with his new compositions. During pandemic, he released his song “Devdut Hau Timi”. This song was dedicated to doctors, nurses, and frontline workers to serve as a source of moral support and encouragement to them. Consequently, his performances were recorded entitled “Sheetal Tapnu” and “Barshau Bityo Gham Chhayama.” These songs reflect emotions, attitude, attachment and attractions.

At present Sharma is in the USA to advance his study. He said international exposure in the musical field helped him expand his talents linguistically. He collaborated on the Hindi song “Jeena Abhi Baaki Hai” alongside Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam. He also collaborated to sing “Dil Chal Diya.” Besides these he also performed singing on English songs. For example, the RSS Production You Tube channel released his English song titled “Take Me Back”.

His singing journey further continued with the ghazal titled “Kin”. It helped him earn the ‘Best Ghazal Singer award at the Seventh national Inclusive Music Awards 2024. He also released folk-pop and modern songs such as “Ke Hola Bholi”and “Ke Chha Oi Sannani”.

His continuous efforts and engagement meaningfully contribute to Nepali music. With a singing style spanning pop, folk-pop, modern, and ghazal genres he is popularly recognised as multilingual, versatile and dedicated artist.