AMRITA
BHENDE
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Projects & Presentations
Amrita started singing at the very early age of 5. Her father, Nandu Bhende,
the famous Rock Star, first introduced her to the art of singing. She was introduced
to jingles by the famous music composer, Vanraj Bhatia. She has done numerous
jingles for T.V like the well known "narangi sa rasila" Rasna ad as well
as Bakeman's biscuits, Melody chocolates, Eclairs, Dalda, Cadbury's Gems, Nutramul,
Swad which she did in 7 languages. The list goes on to more than a 100. She
has also sung for T.V. serials. She has completed 6 grades of piano with the
Trinity College of London. She takes an active interest in theatre and has been
part of it in school as well as on professional level. She has acted in Janak
Toprani's Joe Egg and Hima Devi's Tabula Rasa. She was also a part of the film
on Nehru by Sai Paranjpe.
Multi-talented as she is, yet Amrita considers singing as most important to
her. She has done 3 albums, Hi-Ho, a nursery rhyme album, Diwali Diwali and
HMV'S "KAUN HAI WOH" in 1997. The album was supported
with the video of her title song which received heavy rotation on all the television
channels. Amrita was nominated for the MTV Best Newcomer Award for this album.
She was 'the artiste of the month' for "The Good Morning Show" on Star Plus
in December '97. She performed at the Spring Festival in Korea where she represented
India along with her father. She has also performed to great acclaim at various
metros in India.
As part of an exchange programme, Amrita visited
Israel while in her third year of BA in Sociology. She has completed her post
graduation in ‘Social Work’ with a specialization in 'Family and Child Welfare'
at the renowned Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in 2001. She joined a
Mumbai-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Committed Communities
Development Trust (CCDT), immediately afterwards and is currently working
there.
Amrita heads a CCDT project, DANCING FEAT, in
collaboration with the Shiamak Davar Institute of Performing Arts and 9 other
NGOs. Reaching out to over 700 children, this innovative pilot project uses
dance as a form of therapy to reduce the vulnerability of children at
risk/affected by HIV/AIDS. In this capacity, she just attended the IX
International HIV/AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain (7th – 12th
July, 2002), where her abstract was selected for a presentation.