Just for kicks and thrills

By Rinky Kumar, Team iDiva


Free falling from a helicopter into the deep sea, lending her voice to foot-tapping numbers and jamming with a gang of boys, Anushka Manchanda can do all this and more. The singer, who is in Khatron ke Khiladi (KKK) level 2, has her hands full with her new band Shkabang and a string of offers from some top-notch film banners for lead playback.

We cornered the leggy lass for an interview in the midst of her hectic schedule.

Get, set, go

The ex-Viva member was pretty excited about KKK level 2. The adrenaline rush and the thrill got her hooked. She says, "When I was approached, my initial reaction was 'WHAAT??' I was just too excited about the show."

Though she watched a couple of episodes of the first season, what prompted her to participate in season two was to explore a new facet of her personality. "I've always thought of myself as a very strong woman, and I figured this would be a good way to find out just how far I could push myself."

Ask Anushka about the dare-devil stunts that she has performed on the show and she says, "There are two stunts involving helicopters which were super fun! I felt like the theme song of Mission Impossible was going to start playing in the background."

The singer counts model Jesse Randhawa and actor Nauheed Cyrusi as her toughest competitors on the show. However free falling from a chopper into the sea was the most memorable moment for her. It was very challenging considering that Anushka doesn't consider herself as a good swimmer.

Music beckons

Anushka has also been in the news for her new band Shkabang. It comprises musicians from other bands like like Abhijit Nalani (keys, Hipnotribe), Shiraz Bhattacharya (drums, Pentagram), Pozy Dhar (guitars, Tough on Tobacco) and Johan Pais (bass, Tough on Tobacco), who have been in the music industry for a long time.

Anushka along with the others decided to come together as a band after they played a gig "just for kicks" in the beginning of the year. "We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to start playing for real," she says.

Ask her about the unusual name and she replies with a wink, "It stands for the action the boys will get after they get off the stage!" Though they want to experiment with different sounds, Shkabang's basic vibe is pop-rock electro. "We're not doing this to prove anything to anyone. We just want to make fun music and have a good time playing it."

The band is currently working on an album that will release by the end of this year. Anushka says, "We played our first gig at Blue Frog (Mumbai) a couple of weeks ago, and we've shot our video for a song called I Like Crazy which should be out soon."

Anushka will also be lending her voice to movies like Alladin, Dulha Mil Gaya, Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, Kites, etc. Also, she's sung the title track for upcoming comic flick Do Knot Disturb. After working with the who's who of the music industry, she now nurtures a desire to work with AR Rehman.