International but desi at heart: A perfect combination of style, spark

Simantinee Roy

Simantinee Roy: Living in United States of America but Dil se Desi, she is a beauty pageant winner (Miss East India - Miss Photogenic and Miss Tripura), an Engineer with double Masters including an MBA, a Singer, a Celebrity Anchor/Host, an Entrepreneur, a corporate professional, most importantly a survivor. Armed with her musical prowess, she's all geared up to take the Indian Music Industry by storm with her upcoming Debut Single. Her story of how she survived cancer and became the personality who she is today is very heart-warming and awe-inspiring. A woman with many talents, she recently received the Women Empowerment - Inspiration Award. We were fortunate to have a candid conversation. Here is an excerpt.

- Devanshi Shah

Your journey has been a remarkable one; we would like to know more about it.
I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, in my final year of Engineering. My father, a reputable ENT surgeon (who initially diagnosed my disease) stood by me through the entire process starting with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, depression, recovery, and all of this has transformed me into who I am today. I could not have made it this far without my mom, dad and elder sister's support. After moving to USA and apart from being in the corporate world, I continued pursuing my passion in music and stage performances. I started out with numerous local shows and after several years of hard work, I had the opportunities to perform at Bollywood level. My journey started since then; I have opened concerts and performed at the most prestigious venues with Bollywood celebrities all across USA and Canada. Of course, I cannot end this without a mention of my husband, Arnab who has been a great support and without whom I couldn't have come along this far.

What made you interested in collaborating with Indian artists?
After been focused heavily on stage shows, I wanted to leverage the power of digitization, contribute towards unlocking the potential and help connect with the global audience through my music. I know I have started late, but that has led me to work on Bollywood Covers/Mash ups and getting those released either via my YouTube Channel or through music labels. I have worked with many musicians from the industry who are well-known and respected for their work. I feel these collaborations across continents have helped me grow further in my musical journey.

Please tell us about your upcoming new projects in 2019.
Well, 2019 brings out my debut Bollywood singles and other interesting projects that are already in the pipeline. You would find out about those soon. Working on these projects has been a very interesting process. I've collaborated with very well-known singers, music composers and actors, and I can't wait to share all those details with you. I expect it all to release soon and I look forward to working on more across-continent collaborations this year.

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