I want to do a song with Rahman to bring two different cultures together” – Natalie

There’s not much of a difference between Mark Zuckerberg and Natalie Di Luccio, except that the latter ain’t a millionaire yet. But both got global recognition through social networking sites. Born in Toronto, Canada, Natalie aspired to become an Italian Pop Classical singer. While in school, Read More">Natalie even wanted to drop out and pursue herRead More

There's not much of a difference between Mark Zuckerberg and Natalie Di Luccio, except that the latter ain't a millionaire yet. But both got global recognition through social networking sites. Born in Toronto, Canada, Natalie aspired to become an Italian Pop Classical singer. While in school, Natalie even wanted to drop out and pursue her career in singing till an unexpected tour to India happened in the summer of 2009 that changed her fortune for good. A couple of weeks ago when I met Natalie Di Luccio at Costa in Khar, I wasn't meeting the Canadian born singer, oh no! I was meeting a girl who was to accompany the Oscar winning music director A.R Rahman on his first tour in India since he won the Academy Awards. The tour will begin tomorrow. Surreal isn't it? It took her just two years and two songs on YouTube to be in the company of the musical great Rahman. She orders her favourite green tea with chicken tikka sandwich. But before she savours the bite, I get to know the Natalie Di Luccio of Canada. She sounds just like a regular Canadian: quiet voice, clear Canadian accent with proper politeness and her superlative smile (is that Canadian too?)... all intact! And though anyone and everyone would jump at a chance to ask her straight out, (me included) I quietly sipped my green tea and was left distinctly impressed by her answers. UK's Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama's London correspondent presents the journey so far in the life of Natalie Di Luccio. Welcome to Bollywood Natalie! Oh, by the way, did I forget to tell you that Natalie lent her voice for an English track 'Moments in Life' in the recent Lara Dutta - Vinay Pathak film Chalo Dilli? There's so much she has done and is doing, that two years isn't much time to know the real potential of Natalie Di Luccio.

"It all began in the summer of 2009"

I was invited here in the summer of 2009 by one guitarist called Tusshar who wanted me to do an album with his wife. So I came for fun from Canada. My whole life has been through the internet and I got to know him through MySpace. Back then, I was in the library sitting and researching on some music. I was going through some tough time because I wanted to leave school as I was getting a lot of singing opportunities. The thing was that the album was a western classical. I didn't know much about Bollywood at that time. He wanted me to do a recording from Canada and he didn't tell me who the album was for. After finishing the song, he told me that the album was of Sonu Nigam titled the Maha Ganesh album.

Read More">“The West doesn’t know the magic of India and this is the time to let them know” My dream is to collaborate with A.R Rahman in the future and do a song that could bring two different cultures together; an amalgamation of the East meets West. My goal is to have India and Bollywood knownRead More

"The West doesn't know the magic of India and this is the time to let them know"

My dream is to collaborate with A.R Rahman in the future and do a song that could bring two different cultures together; an amalgamation of the East meets West. My goal is to have India and Bollywood known abroad, and just not as a Slumdog Millionaire. There is so much richness here, it's unbelievable. The West doesn't know the magic of India and this is the time to let them know.

“My favourite Rahman song has to be ‘Dil Se‘” I’ve always followed A.R Rahman’s music. But to perform with him is going to be surreal. It’s so that I’ve just been around in India for two years and look, Read More">I am going to tour with the Oscar winning music director. This is insane! My favouriteRead More

"My favourite Rahman song has to be 'Dil Se'"

I've always followed A.R Rahman's music. But to perform with him is going to be surreal. It's so that I've just been around in India for two years and look, I am going to tour with the Oscar winning music director. This is insane! My favourite Rahman song has to be 'Dil Se'. The whole album of Dil Se is good. I love Bombay Dreams too that he did in London. I also like the way Rahman has sung Vande Mataram track.

"A film based on my story so far in Bollywood is being planned"

I have been approached by someone from Hollywood to discuss a film they are planning to make on my story so far.

“The song I sung ‘Tu Jaane Na’ on YouTube changed my life forever” I was supposed to be doing a big album for a producer from London. During this time, Read More">my brother (who’s a guitarist) told me to do a song for YouTube. He said that he would play the guitar and I could sing.Read More

"The song I sung 'Tu Jaane Na' on YouTube changed my life forever"

I was supposed to be doing a big album for a producer from London. During this time, my brother (who's a guitarist) told me to do a song for YouTube. He said that he would play the guitar and I could sing. I've never thought of doing covers. We wanted to rearrange the tunes. At that time, I was listening to 'Tu Jaane Na' from the film Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. It was an instrumental version composed by a fourteen year old boy from Chennai. The next day I did it. I didn't know how my accent sounded like and I was on the verge of deleting the post from YouTube. But within one hour, I had some one thousand or more views. The good thing was that everyone liked the song and today it's got 1,108,476 views. That day changed my life.

"A.R Rahman loved my take on 'Kahin Toh Hogi Woh' and he picked me for the tour"

A.R Rahman's management had seen my YouTube videos and they showed Rahman the song I had sung, 'Kahin To Hogi Woh' from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Luckily, the song that I had sung was originally composed by A.R. Rahman. He really liked it and also told me that he would've included my song if he had heard the song before the film had released. The management called me and asked me to be a part of the India Tour of A.R. Rahman that kicks starts on May 15.

“I always wanted to become an Italian Pop Classical singer but after I came to India, I lost that passion” I kept going back and forth to Canada and Mumbai and one thing led to another and just as we all know, Read More">Bollywood sucked me in. I became so submerged into Bollywood songs. I feltRead More

"I always wanted to become an Italian Pop Classical singer but after I came to India, I lost that passion"

I kept going back and forth to Canada and Mumbai and one thing led to another and just as we all know, Bollywood sucked me in. I became so submerged into Bollywood songs. I felt like I've been in India in my past life. I always wanted to become an Italian Pop Classical singer but after I came to India, I lost that passion.

"I kept learning Hindi through Skype by my tutor who was in India"

The manager of Bob Marley's wife approached me. He told me to practice some Italian songs and at that time I was sucked into Bollywood songs. At that same time, I kept learning Hindi through Skype by my tutor who was in India. Each day I used to watch one Bollywood film with the subtitles. I went through a low point and was in a dilemma because I was losing stuff at both ends. My manager was taking his own sweet time but he was working hard to close the deals and I wanted to go back to India too.