MUMBAI:  She is all that a teenage girl would be, Bubbly, talkative, full of energy, but she has a Filmfare Award too at the age of 15. “It is unreal” in her own words. Meghna Mishra, a young girl with a voice, that captured hearts with the super hit song Nachdi Phira from 2017 blockbuster Secret Superstar.

Very few would know that this girl started her career in singing at a tender age of 11 with a Marathi film Vitti Dandu. Meghna remembers her start with a lot of amusement, “I was never into singing actually, I used just sing the Hindi film songs. My father (Sanjay Kumar Mishra), who is trained in music identified my potential and decided to hone my talent.” Similarly, she or her family never thought that she would get a chance to sing for a movie so soon. “My father’s student has a studio, which he lets out on hire. Once, he had let it out to Santosh Mulekar, who is the music director for the film Vitti Dandu. They were looking for a young girl to sing just four lines in a Shankar Mahadevan song. So, I recorded that and another song for the film.”

Most of the things in Meghna’s career span have been accidental, just like her participation in a reality show, which she couldn’t make through, but she has no regrets. “I was singing at the Annual Day for my school and the chief guest there, who knew my father very well, insisted that I should participate in a reality show. So, we thought why not give it a chance. However, it did not work out, which is ok.”

Of course, it was ok, because what followed was a destiny’s mighty stroke. She was signed by Aamir Khan Production for their movie. “Santosh Mulekar Sir called one day and asked my mother about my age. Once she told him my age, he asked us to share some recordings, which we did. And within no time, I was with my father at a studio. We didn’t know whose studio it was and what was everything about. Later, I was asked to sign some papers and that was the first time I ever signed any paper. Finally, Amit Trivedi walked into the room. I couldn’t believe the luck. Much later, we were told it is for Mr Aamir Khan and my first reaction was “who Aamir Khan? Who Bollywood wala? I was so shocked and just found all this unreal and too good to be true.”

Well, that’s not it, later she got to meet Mr Perfectionist in Panchgani. “We were sitting in a hall at Panchgani and Aamir Khan walked in, and we (her and her mom) were just stunned. And he asked, “So you are Meghna Mishra?” It was such a great feeling,” gushes the start struck singer.

Moving on from the success of the film Secret Superstar, the accolades, the awards, Meghna now performs live shows, “It is so different to perform live than give playback. Playback singing comes with certain rulebook but live performances give you the liberty to experiment.”

Meghna concludes, “No movies yet have been offered, but I am looking forward. There are so many music directors I want to work with.”

Here’s wishing the newbie all the luck on her journey forward.

Tune-in to Zee Cinema on Sunday, 25th February at 8pm to watch Secret Superstar .