From the Nepali Press
Himalk Khabarpatrika, 5-11 February
As Thamel Bazar captures the airwaves and goes viral on YouTube, the song's playback singer Meena Niraula is all smiles. The song has not only established Niraula as a playback singer but has also put her on the map of Nepali music industry.
Born and brought up in Manipur of India, Niraula trained as a classical singer. When she came to Nepal ten years ago, she had already sung for a dozen Manipur movies, but was unsure what the new country had in store for her.
Once here, she worked hard to establish herself as a singer. She participated in the reality show Nepali Tara, where she reached the top 10 with her powerful and versatile singing. But Niraula had to pull out of the show due to health reasons. She later joined the Paleti series where she sang with Ambar Gurung, Premdhwaj Pradhan, Phatteman Rajbahndari and Kiran Pradhan. She also took out an album Paila with Rojina Gurung with music from Kali Prasad Banskota. But listeners did not warm up to it. In addition to modern songs, Niraula started playback singing.
"I feel like all my hard work has paid off. The success of the song has motivated me to work harder," said Niraula. In Loot 2's Thamel Bazar, the audience got a taste of her unique voice and singing style that employs her raspy voice and novel rhythms.
Now Niraula is hoping to cash in some more adulation from the audience with the song 'Ansu pokhe, pida pokhe' from the new movie based on writer Jhamak Ghimire's life. Niraula thinks versatility is the most important quality of a singer. "I want to establish myself as one," she says.