Actor Manoj Tiwari at the programme. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Aug. 17: She captured the hearts of many with her melodious voice. He went on to charm not just music lovers, but also cinegoers.

Singer, actor Manoj Tiwari and singer Kalpana were in town recently for the promotion of a Bhojpuri singing competition “Sur Sangram-II”, which will be shown on Mahua TV.

Both of the artistes spoke to The Telegraph about their movies, songs and their lives.

Manoj Tiwari is the undisputed king of Bhojpuri film industry. He has released a large number of audio cassettes, CDs and acted in several Bhojpuri movies. He is regularly invited to functions for live performances. “All the popularity and fame I have achieved is because of my hard work. Bhojpuri cinema, which was once upon time a part of the regional movies, is slowly making its presence felt in mainstream cinema,” Tiwari said.

Sasura Bada Paise Wala was released in 2003 with Manoj in the lead. “film with a budget of three million rupees made over Rs 2 crore profit. Later in 2005, Daroga Babu I love You was also a big hit. Since then, there was no looking back for Manoj Tiwari.

The actor, along with Ravi Kissan, has been credited with reviving the Bhojpuri film industry.

'Not just India, I've been toiling tirelessly to promote Bhojpuri cinema all over the world, wherever there's a sizeable Bhojpuri-speaking population, like in Mauritius and Surinam, which is a former Dutch colony. The Dutch government has also issued a postage stamp with my face on it. This came as a complete surprise for me,” said Manoj Tiwari.

Manoj feels regional languages are being ignored in the north. “That is why I've opened Bhojpuri academies in various cities all over the world, including Surinam. I feel the Bhojpuri that Indians speak in foreign countries is incorrect,” the actor said.

Manoj has his eyes set on Bhojpuri cinema and language gaining credence all over the world. “I am a regular visitor to Mauritius where the Indian population dates back 150 years. In fact, I accompanied Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Mauritius.”

Manoj Tiwari’s latest film Bhojpuria Don is going to release soon in theatre. He is keeping his fingers crossed for the film but is sure that the film will be a big hit.

Singer Kalpana has the unique feat of singing in as many as 20 languages. In the past five years, she has sung about 2,000 popular songs.

Now, she has released her first solo Hindi album MAA-e-Ri. Kalpana has composed the music for the album which is a Times Music presentation. Talking about the album Kalpana said: “All the six tracks in the album are fresh and breezy. The album does not fall in any particular genre as it has a blend of earthy and heavenly love.”

Kalpana, originally from Assam, made her Bollywood debut as a playback singer with films like Sandhya, The Fear Within, 88 Antop Hill and Stumped. Her musical journey began at the age of five.

“I am launching my first international music album in order to reach out to the maximum music lovers around the globe,” she said.

Kalpana has not restricted her singing talent only to Bhojpuri films but is also singing in 20 other languages, including English, and Hindi.

Recently, Kalpana sangan item song for a Kannada film for Mallika Sherawat. This is not the first time that Kalpana has sung an item number for south movies. Her first item number Sweetie Rasgulla of film Lankesh Patrike was a massive hit in Kannada film industry. Then she dubbed a song for Hamsalekha,- the king of Kannad music industry, for the film Soundarya.

Kalpana said, “I don’t want my folk music to remaintrapped in our villages. Yes it’s safe there in its original form, but of no use unless we take them to the rest of the world. To make it global, I am trying to blend the music of my homeland with world music and other genres.”

Kalpana is also working in an album together with world-class virtuoso percussionist and bandleader Trilok Gurtu.

Born and raised in Assam Kalpana first developed an interest in music when she was a child and learnt to sing from her father, a folk artist.

Kalpana began performing as a child, singing with her father. The group sang at local functions and community gatherings.

As a teenager, Kalpana sang with a local rock and roll band. She earned a scholarship and went to Lucknow University, where she studied vocals and music engineering.

After a while, she started professional singing. Upon graduating from college, she travelled around the Northeast, learning and performing a various local events.

Later, she got many opportunities to sing for big budget Bollywood films and has already done playback singing in over 100 popular Hindi film. A few of them are Akshay Kumar’s Khatta Meetha, Welcome, De Dana Dan and Shah Rukh Khan’s-Billu Barber.