They all helped me reach this stage: Sajida Khan

She carved a niche for herself in the tough field of sound and music, that too in the world of films. Her determination to do something offbeat was the driving force.

With more than a decade of professional experience as an audio engineer, Sajida Khan, 33, worked on the National Award-winning film, Adavi Na Talli Ra. She has handled works like movie dubbing, sound effects, background music and complete audio mix for Telugu and Tamil films, and songs and albums of different genres, including political and devotional.

She has also done jingles, television serials, ads, documentaries, recordings for the All India Radio, and radio serials.

“So far, I have dubbed about 60 feature films in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Bhojpuri. Those could be possible with experience of working with with artistes such as L.V. Vaidhyanathan (violin), Thomas (trumpet), L.V. Ganeshan (keyboard), music directors and singers Chakri, L. Suresh and R.P. Patnaik,” she saysand recalls her association with Tollywood directors Dasari Narayana Rao, Teja and Dhavala Satyam.

Ms. Khan ventured into various platforms of arts and theatre and even won the national award for singing. In fact, she has several awards to her credit, including the Indian Women’s Achievers Award in January 2018 as the first female music technician in the country. Add to that, the Visishta Mahila Award from the Telangana government on International Women’s Day last week.

First notes

Ms. Khan started her career at Geetanjali Studio of Lalith Suresh as assistant director of music and sound. This was after she completed a multimedia course in story boarding, audio/video editing, Photoshop and illustration in 2008, which set the tune for her growth.

Eldest of three children of S.A. Khan and Jainad Khan, who are settled in Hyderabad, Ms. Khan credits her parents for encouraging her to pursue her chosen field. Her name is on the top 200 list of famous women personalities in Indian history and top 14 list of first Indian women in cinema and music.

Armed with a prestigious post graduate diploma in music from the Trinity Guildhall University of London, she says she learnt vocals under the tutelage of Seshulatha of Telugu University, piano from Charitha Ben and Western notations from P. Niyati Thomas. “They all helped me reach this stage,” she says.