Shay Onojaife

 

PULL QUOTE ---- "I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE FOR EVEN SAYING THESE THINGS OUT LOUD"

 

ROMENA VASANTH, the queen of Indipop, stands in my midst burning incense around the room. It’s been a year since anyone has seen anything of her, yet she stands before me prettier, happier but still as small as ever. Hushed rumours of stolen songs and stolen kisses flow through the industry but all the questions are answered here with ETCH.

Walk into the Vasanth house and you’re immediately captivated by opulent rooms draped in luxurious silks and those bright, printed cottons that seem to be a prime staple of Indian décor. THE Romena, lounges upon the upholstered sofa, her petite feet swinging back and forth playfully sweeping the hand-woven rug below her. She smiles.

 

“Try some” are her first words to me, and I glance over the vast arrangement; Bajji, Peda, Puri… (I have never seen so much food in my life) She takes her pick of the Rosgulla and smiles. “My family is really big on food.” She relaxes once more; I cease the opportunity and ask that one question on everyone’s mind.

“Why did you go on hiatus last year?”

 

She shifts uncomfortably, expecting me to have started small. She turns to her manager standing on the side-lines then looks back at me. I wait for the words ‘off the record’ but instead she replies with “you know what it’s like; the paparazzi are foul with the things they say, trespassing, violating. I don’t deserve to be treated like this so I took control”

A silence fell through the room but I went on “Is the media the only reason you disappeared? There have been speculations of you passing off others songs of your own. For example your single ‘Take me Away’ was said to be written by you and your team but sources say it came from Zubereen Garg personally? (You may know his as ‘Golden Boy’… or perhaps Romena’s ex who climbed up the celebrity ladder to stardom with that one hit – Perfect girl. Not to mention by his multiple attempts to sue everyone in Bollywood – including Romena.)

 

“It’s hard in the music business because sometimes wires get crossed and there are misunderstandings. Zurbereen was a big part in writing that song but it came from me. I put my heart into it."

 

“Are you saying he was inspiration for this love song? Because there seems to be conflict between the two of you recently”

 

She paused for a minute and started to laugh it was a cold laugh, for a minute I thought she would burst into tears but she didn’t, she just sighed. Her manager walked towards us as if to pull the plug on the whole thing but Romena held up her hand.

 

“No. I mean I’m not going to sit here a lie, we did have a … connection and we had a lot of fun together but being in the public eye changes people, some will do a lot and hurt a lot for their 5 minutes of fame but you have to realise that making the charts and selling out arenas isn’t everything.  For me I think when you're surrounded by people who love you it remind you to stay yourself and keep grounded and I think a lot of people need to remember that.”

To me that seemed like the celebrity-way of saying Goldie is a jerk but I’ll let you decide.

 

So the media has put you down a lot in the last few years, how does that make you feel?

 

“Well before I would say it affected me massively so much so that I took a break you know I just kept thinking 'I can't do this', there's only so much you can take and you know they say only certain people are made to be famous; that are thick skinned and strong and I know now that I am one of those people.”

 

She was smiling again and there was a look of relief in her eyes, she had finally got her side of the story out. She took another bite of food and I copied her, knowing that the tension in the room had been cut. Finally.

 

So how does it feel coming back from hiatus?

 

“Great! So great! It's such a wakeup call when you return because you know you have so much to do and so many responsibilities but at the same time you owe it to your fans to give back everything they give you, you know?”

 

What did you do on your hiatus that prepared you for your return?

 

“Wrote, wrote and wrote. I knew I needed a comeback and it needed to be big so I wrote an album.”

 

Wow, tell us about your new album.

 

“Okay well it's called '2.0' as in the second version of me. I'm not as wild and reckless as the media presents me, you know I have a family and friends and I care about so many things and... I don't want to give anything away but I think a lot of songs show the real me. I’ve been through a lot so much more than a lot of you know. Its raw emotion right there and at times I feel uncomfortable for even saying these things out loud but it's important and it's something I really want to share with my fans.”

 

Sounds Great! Speaking of your fans we actually have some of their questions from twitter… Amy from New York asks “Overall how would you describe your fans?”

 

“They're just so dedicated and so on it. They are probably the most-internet savvy people you'll ever meet like they will create a hashtag for me and before you know it it's trending. And it's the same determination every single day from them that really pushes me to be the best version of myself and that's how I knew I would come back stronger than ever.”

 

Great Answer! Chris from Venice asks “What places are you planning on visiting for your world tour? #RomenaWorldTour”

 

“Wow so many London, Paris – wherever we can in Europe. I really want to visit Dubai. There’s Peru, Chile and so many places in South America and obviously North America. India, Morocco, Australia… just anywhere and everywhere.”

 

Sounds Exciting! It's all happening so fast, you have your new album, world tour, what's next?

 

“Well I need to get through the world tour first. I mean that is going to take about a year and I have a lot of others things planned too.”

She glances back to her manager and nods cheekily then turns back to me and grins widely, holding her own little secret.

“I mean I guess we'll just have to wait and see!”

 

Well we can't wait. Any last words?

 

“My album comes out March 28th. Don’t forget – 2.0, buy it, share it, tweet about it do everything you can let’s make this big. And the World Tour? I’ll see you there! “