Meet N K Naga, the first Naga playback singer in Bollywood

A well known Naga Hindi Singer and composer, N K Naga from Nagaland is set to be the first Naga playback singer in Bollywood. Naga, who has received a contract to be a Bollywood Playback Singer with Find Studioz Production House Mumbai, disclosed that his moment of triumph only came after several setbacks and credits Jesus for his newfound success. Naga, who will be heading to Mumbai next month, spoke exclusively to Inside Northeast. Here are some excerpts:

Tell us about your beginnings....

I started singing at the age of 9 and failed many times. I even tried out for 'Indian Idol' in 2018 in Guwahati, but was not selected. That was a major setback.

How did you overcome the pangs of disasppointment?

I might have failed, but I never gave up. I tapped myself on the shoulders on that very day and I told myself: "You have a good opening." Whoever I am today, I owe it to Jesus Christ.

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So what did you do next?

I studied about the struggles of the newer crop of playbook singers -- such as Arijeet Singh -- and their journeys. This taught me a valuable lesson -- that you should never give up.

So how did you turn your failure into success?

Although I had vowed to never go for an audition, I kept in touch with the music industry professionals through social media. A producer called Rebecca Changkijja Sema asked me to send some compositions and my song 'How's the Josh' on security forces caught the eye. That song earned me a National Patriotic song award. I stayed in touch with the Producer. One day, Director Shiraz Henry sent me a message on WhatsApp. I later came to know that he is a renowned director who had taken a lot of interest in my work.

How did you get the chance to sing in a Bollywood movie?

One day, I got a call from the Producer and she said the magical words -- "I want to give you a break". That was it. I am flying down to Mumbai in the second week of February. A lot of other people have reached out to me, and there are more projects in the pipeline. The picture will become clearer next month.

By: Rana Pratap Saikia

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