Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS/EFE) Maria del Mar Fernandez, the Spanish voice behind the Bollywood hit song “Senorita”, is experiencing first-hand India’s passion for the single during her visit to this capital.

The flamenco singer from the southern city of Cadiz gave her first concert Wednesday in New Delhi at the Cervantes Institute’s auditorium, where a big screen was mounted outside due to the enormous interest her visit has generated.

Fernandez’s singing voice has become widely recognizable in this nation of 1.2 billion people after this summer’s premiere of the Bollywood film “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (You Only Live Once), which tells of three Indian friends’ travels in Spain.

The movie’s biggest musical hit, “Senorita”, a Latin-flavoured flamenco song with vocals in both Hindi and Spanish, can now be heard across India.

“They don’t know my face so much but when they ask me what I’m doing here and I tell them I’m the singer of ‘Senorita’, they get excited. Everyone knows the song here. It’s incredible,” Fernandez told EFE.

“I read in the newspaper that you’d be arriving in Delhi, but I never imagined you’d be entering my store,” a salesperson at a traditional clothing shop in the capital’s downtown told Fernandez when she entered the establishment.

If the constant barrage of attention - including non-stop interviews with the main media outlets over the past two days - continues unabated, the singer may look back fondly on her previous anonymity.

Official commitments aside, Fernandez took some time to savour the essence of the city: from the constant honking of horns on chaotic roads to India’s more spiritual and folkloric aspects.

The soundtrack to “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” was prominently displayed in nearly every music store in downtown New Delhi just a few months ago, although gradually it is being showcased less and less.

“How is that? If it’s the biggest selling soundtrack,” Fernandez said with surprise, although she quickly discovered that numerous pirated versions of her song were available for sale in places such as the popular Palika Bazar market.

The flamenco singer is being accompanied on her visit to New Delhi by guitarist and songwriting partner Jose Carlos Gomez and percussionist Carlos Martin.

–IANS/EFE
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