Many British Asian artists dream of making it in Bollywood but very few achieve this ambition. So it would be right to say that Hard Kaur is living the dream right now. She has spent the last 3 years making a successful career in Mumbai and rubbing shoulders with Bollywood royalty.

After singing on many hit Bollwood tracks and featuring in Indian reality shows, Hard Kaur has signed her first movie alongside Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.

SimplyBhangra.com caught up with her at the first ever BritAsia Music Awards last week.

How is working in the Bollywood music industry different compared with working in the British Asian music industry?

Hard Kaur: Everybody in England has a chip on their shoulder. We should be helping each other. We should be pushing each other. We should be finding the best R n B singers, best Bhangra singers, best producers. We should be controlling the industry and making money out of it.

But no. That doesn’t happen in England. No-one helps each other. Recently I called Lembher for a song in a Bollywood film. I said ‘Lembher, come and sing this song for Akshay Kumar’. He came and he was so nervous. With me, no-one backed me up. But England taught me all I know about music. It taught me how to be rude and stand up for myself. So I thank England. But India taught me how to make money.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

Hard Kaur: For the first time I’m doing a film, Patiala House. We’ll start shooting on the 7th. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Dimple Kapadia. Dimple Kapadia is playing a Punjabi mummy ji. You won’t believe the role that she is playing in the film. And she is very beautiful.

This film makes me think that everyone’s going to love it. I’m really looking forward to it’s release. I also worked on TV programmers ‘Jhalak….’ and ‘IPL Rockstar’. But after that they asked me to be a part of ‘Is Jungle se mujhe bachao’ and ‘Khatron ka khiladi’. They asked me to be a part of every other reality show, even ‘Big Boss’ but I didn’t do them because I’m not desperate.

If you were offerd the role of leading lady in a film, who would be your ideal co-star?

Hard Kaur: I wouldn’t want to play the role of a heroine. I’d prefer a comedian role or a villain role.

Can you tell us about your single with Eminem’s group D12. How did that come about?

Hard Kaur:My single with D12 will be releasing in 2 weeks. Eminem was too tired so he couldn’t come to the studio. But black rappers are better!

So, could working with someone like Eminem be a possibility in the future?

Hard Kaur: It’s very normal because we’ve just done a song with Pussycat Dolls. Everybody’s trying to break into India right now and they think that the best way to break into this market is to collaborate with Hard Kaur.

You are a very successful female in a male dominated industry. What is the secret of your success?

Hard Kaur: Be yourself. Because I did and they love me for who I am. What I love about Mumbai is I can be myself and they still love me. They’re like ‘Hard Kaur, we love you just the way you are. Don’t change’. In the UK they expect you to stick to women’s stereotypes but in Mumbai they encourage you to move forward.

Are you enjoying the Mumbai lifestyle?

Hard Kaur: In Mumbai you can be Muslim, you can be Gujrati , you can be Pharsi and have a great time because everyone gets on with each other. There’s no segregation. We go to each other’s parties and barbecues. They have barbecues at the church on Sundays. They don’t make you feel like you’re any different. In Mumbai it feels like we can all get along. I wish we had that in the UK, where nobody cares what religion you come from.

What are your thoughts on settling down?

Hard Kaur: We’re all going to have babies one day. Let’s say if we get married at 33 and have children. Don’t you think we’ve done well? We were famous for something and then we had a family aswell.

Thank you for taking the time out for this interview. Do you have any final words for your fans?

Hard Kaur: Believe in yourself. Don’t listen to anybody else.

Article written by Sarb Mann and Manjinder Mann>

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