A thousand unread messages are waiting for Nida "Rimi" Doowa in the hilariously named chat group "Choom Tang Siang Tong" (Junction Of Golden Voices) on Line. Her fellow contestants from The Voice Thailand Season 2 are clearly a chatty bunch, but the Thai-born Indian smiles at the thought of other things the show has brought her in launching her music career.
"My group mates knew I was different and they let me be that so I enjoyed it," she adds with a laugh. "And if I need to practice Thai, I just open the chat and read it!"
Life after reality singing competition The Voice saw her moving to Mumbai from Bangkok, where she has finally got her official break in India's music industry: a playback song. As an independent artist still learning the notes of this "whole new world", Rimi discovers, "One thing I've learned about India is you need to do playback singing for movies. It's the biggest industry and Bollywood really runs India. I have never seen people look at celebrities like they're god. I didn't really realise the impact of it until I got out there."
Rimi Nique, singer of ABCD2 movie.
Under her artist name Rimi Nique (Rimi, plus her Punjabi name Ramneek), she has written and sung ABCD 2's requisite happy Vegas song, Naach Meri Jaan — where the main characters tour and gamble the night away at the haven of lights. Along with three other singers, they are singing up a party, while Rimi gives a sensual element to the dance song with all the English and Spanish hooks, as well as Hindi. The film is now showing in Bangkok.
Post-Voice, her gateway to India's music industry came in the form of another reality singing competition, India Raw Star, where Rimi got a call asking her to become a contestant. After performing the finale on India Raw Star, the 25-year-old was personally approached by Sachin-Jigar, the Bollywood duo who have composed many successful tracks for Indian movies.
"Sachin came up to me and said there was a song that he felt my voice would fit really well," she recalls. "They let me do what I did on the first episode of Raw Star, which was where I was myself the most. I had sang in Hindi, English and Spanish because that is who I am and they let me do that with this song. He left me alone in the studio to write the song and that's really giving a lot of respect to someone who's just starting out."
She can sing in Thai too — a request Indian audiences sometimes eagerly ask her to perform. Right from the Blind Audition round on The Voice, where her diva-perfect rendition of Lady Marmalade turned all four chairs, it was clear that Rimi is a versatile vocalist who can bounce from powerhouse pop and soulful ballads to classical raga effortlessly.
The Sukhumvit native initially thought being a jack of all trades was a weakness.
"I thought in Thailand I wasn't Thai enough and in India I wasn't Indian enough. It was always a fear I had, but I knew a bit of everything and I came to finally realise that being a multilingual singer is my asset," she says.
In an age when Indian music is starting to embrace more Western elements, Rimi is indeed the fitting multicultural face to fit the bill.
"It's a little mixed now, where the song may have a Western vibe but is sung in Hindi, or even in English. That's exactly what I do and I just want to tell India that this kind of voice does exist," she adds. Being a closet dancer and a shameless Disney fan, getting to sing a modern, upbeat tune for a dance movie could not have captured the essence of Rimi Nique any better.
With her traceless American accent from years of studying at an international school and taking up Spanish, close your eyes and Rimi can channel her own crystal-clear take on Alicia Keys or Queen Beyoncé. But open your eyes and her naturally curly hair and absence of sharp, ethnic features renders her more of an Indian Shakira busting J. Lo-esque moves.
"In Thailand they think I'm a lookkrueng, in India they think I'm from Latin America and random people come up to me speaking in Spanish," says Rimi. "Just by seeing Rimi Nique, you will not know where I'm from or anything about me. Is she American, Thai, Indian or Spanish? I want you to listen to my voice first and let that touch your heart before judging me on my face or dancing."
If anything, Rimi has long been a live performer before being stationed at the studio as she is today. She read economics back in Whitman College, but by her senior year, her involvement with the uni's a cappella group, her own band and other charity choirs were waving all the flags in her face that music was something she should make a career from.
In between singing for her own album, gigs, festivals, advertisement jingles and weddings, Rimi is collaborating with other artists, such as Thailand's Mike Pirath. She also features on a spiritual album set for release next month by A.R. Rahman's flautist, Naveen Kumar. As word about her melting pot of talent steadily spreads, more offers for TV shows are heading her way, but Rimi is taking the slow road.
"I was offered an MTV show where I would be a bitchy or sassy version of myself. I would never do anything that doesn't represent me so I didn't take it up. If it takes a year extra to get there, fine — I want to do this for the rest of my life because it's what I love," she says.
Asked if any works for Thailand are in store, her answers don't stray far from what got it all started for her in the first place.
"If there was ever an Indian rap song and I wanted to make a Thai version, I know I can ask and would not hesitate to ask Joey when the time is right. I just know there is something we could do and it could be magic. But right now, my destiny is taking me to India," she says.
