Sunidhi Chauhan’s stage presence has drastically changed over the years. Armed with several hit numbers, she is more confident, more energetic and, most importantly, more stylish. The powerful singer who is on her ‘I Am Home’ tour was in the city and performed at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, wowing Calcutta in her new avatar. A tete-a-tete with Sunidhi.

Your style game has changed a lot during live performances. How has it evolved over the years and how does it boost your energy level and mood during a performance?

Style has always been all about how you feel inside and what you’re comfortable with and what makes you feel most confident. So, whatever I used to wear before in my shows, I was comfortable back then, and obviously over the years it has changed a lot. But that’s only because I felt different about my fitness, about my body and when you start getting more comfortable with it, when you start feeling more confident about your body then you just try new things. Some things work, some things don’t work and you just go with the flow. So, that’s all I pay attention to. I don’t really sit and think about what exactly I should do and what will look good. Also, it all depends on my mood.

One more thing: If I’m feeling great and I’m loving what I’m wearing, it enhances my performance. It does enhance my mood and I just feel lighter on stage. And that’s the state I always want to be in. If I’m the lightest on stage then I can do whatever I want to do.

Who is your style icon when it comes to stage performers and why?

It has to be Michael Jackson, the most real artiste I have ever known. And the fact that he wore his personality with comfort and pride. He poured his heart and his entire self out for the audience to see.

What are the things you keep in mind when making a playlist for a concert in Calcutta?

Calcutta has a very receptive audience who listens to every genre of music with lots of love and patience and for artistes, it’s the most important thing. People of Calcutta welcome with open arms and that’s what I like most. ‘I Am Home’ itself is a special show and it’s difficult to choose from the songs that I have. I have been lucky to have a variety of songs in my kitty. If I could I would sing all but I do give a thought about which song to start with and end with, and how the graph would be.

You recently did a collab for Aankh with Sanya Malhotra. Tell us about the song, its music, the collab and the dance.

As soon as I heard Aankh, I was like: I will have to record this song right now, right away. I just couldn’t wait to get the mic. The way Prateeksha Srivastava has composed and written it, and Rusha & Blizza, oh my God! Those producers have killed it in this song. The sound that they have created blew me away; it’s really rare and I don’t remember feeling as such about a song like this in the past. I was at peace but also worried when I heard Sanya Malhotra will be in it. Apart from her acting skills, and she is so beautiful, she is an amazing dancer. I have been a fan of her dancing. Choreographers Piyush Bhagat and Shazia Samji are another level of genius and I was a bit nervous that Sanya will handle them but I don’t know how I will do it. I can dance but I am not a professional dancer. But as soon as we started rehearsing, I started getting confidence. We all worked hard and I am very happy with how it has turned out and the kind of response it is getting is crazy.

‘I Am Home’ tour continues this year. How special is the tour for you?

I want to take ‘I Am Home’ to each and every city in India. I want people to know what goes into making this whole thing, the hard work that goes into making these shows. The show is very special to me, it is my baby and I want to take it to every part of India and even abroad.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

I’m now quite excited about my non-film songs. I will make an announcement soon about a new song. Of course, film songs are happening and as and when those movies come out, you will know about the songs.