We dialled Anushka Manchanda on a Friday evening, on a day when she’d had only two-and-a-half hours of sleep, her phone had stopped working and she was at her “wit’s end”. Yet through the course of the chat, she introduced us to her “alias” NUKA. Anushka chatted with t2 on this new journey that she launched on Wednesday.

Congratulations... what’s the story behind NUKA?

Thank you. NUKA is sort of an alias. I am creating a different identity for myself through which I can do music and art, which I want to keep separate from all the stuff that I have been doing so far. Let me just say this is where my heart is. This is where my art is as well.

I am actually producing music now. So, through this project, I want to be able to put out music that I am producing. I am also editing. I have a lot more control over what I am doing. I am being able to work with the people I want to work with and who wanna work with me. It’s really something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. 

What does NUKA mean?

It’s the name I used to call myself when I was four or five years old. I was in Los Angeles two years ago with a friend of mine… we were planning this thing and were thinking of names and I told him I was thinking of NUKA, but then it didn’t really mean anything. I made my own full form — Nature’s Universal Kinetic Ascension. I really believe in the power of the universe.

It was my last night in LA and we went to an observatory. We walked out of the place and were standing on a side and there was a whole bunch of people standing on a parapet looking out on to the city of LA. And suddenly there was a green flash in the sky. I don’t even know what it was. We left from there and went for dinner. With the bill, they gave us a postcard and it was the picture of the observatory where we were! We looked at each other and he was like, you know what that means… it means NUKA is your artiste name! I was like, yes, I know!

Will you now call yourself NUKA?

I have enjoyed the work that I have done so far under my own name. I do a lot of shows and I have an amazing time performing for the audience. This particular band that I am working with are all friends of mine and friends of my brother. It’s like a tight-knit family. Eighty per cent of my band is from the metal scene. It is a lot of fun… but that and what I am doing now are completely different.

The main reason to segregate and have this artiste name is for the people who don’t know me and my music. Say, you hear this new track that I have done with the kind of sound tempo and you went to look for more work from me and then you found Dum maaro dum and you’ll be like ‘It’s completely different’. That doesn’t work for me because personally as a listener, if I like an artiste and I try and look for their work and I don’t find anything similar, my link is broken. 

Brave of you to be doing this after more than a decade in this profession. How much of a risk is this?

If I look at it from the business angle, it makes no sense. This is the dumbest thing I could be doing right now. But you gotta do what you gotta do. As I am getting older, I am also getting more rigid. I have a lot to say. I care about animals, environment. If through my art, I can emotionally affect someone, then I am doing something. We are so apathetic to everything that is happening around us!   

NUKA will not only be about music, right?

I don’t want to limit myself to just music. I did a photostory about free-ing the nipple. I enjoy doing stuff like that. I am interested in films. I really want to be able to do everything. I think I am a far better producer than a singer. I am an excellent performer.

Tell us about your first video as NUKA — Don’t Be Afraid…

I have written and produced it (co-conceptualised and directed by Navzar Eranee). It basically explores the idea of life and death and what happens when you die. There is also the idea that nature and humans are one… ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It is a nice reminder of how we are connected. It also talks about how everybody has a weakness and everyone’s got shit going on; so, don’t worry, you are not in this alone. 

Will Bollywood playback take a back seat now?

I am not making any choices like that. It’s just that I am trying to commit 100 per cent to what I am doing. The best part about turning 30 is that you have reached a point when you don’t need validation from anyone. For women, I think it is the age of real power. That’s why I feel fearless about so many things. The family backing you up also makes a huge difference.

You come across as someone who is so body proud. In this age of social media scrutiny, what would be your message to all the girls reading this…

I feel there are two-three sides to this question. If I ever tell anyone that my legs are too skinny, they are going to be like: ‘You are such a bitch’. All of last year I was trying to put on weight. I was working out and eating avocados every day… protein shakes, bananas…. I haven’t had a huge struggle with that (weight), which is why I feel I am not 100 per cent qualified to give someone else advice.

But I do think that the fact that people will have to look a certain way, that has changed. In advertising, people are looking for characters who look interesting and different. Today the idea is diversity. Whatever you do, it all depends on your confidence. 

What keeps you fit?

I walk a lot… with my headphones on and some music going. It really helps. I love hiking too. Also dancing, which I don’t get to do that much any more. I used to go to Goa a lot, there used to be dancing for eight-nine hours. I have started doing yoga. The idea is to eat well and sleep well. In my house all are owls… no one sleeps before 3am-4am, except my dad. All my work happens in the night, but then I do need to sleep for eight hours.