Sharon Prabhakar on Pop, Theatre and Alyque Padamsee: ‘He Taught Me Poise, Stature, Personality and Projection’

Sharon Prabhakar is among the rare Indian performers who successfully made the transition from becoming a celebrated pop singer to establishing herself as a major theatre performer. At a time when independent pop music was still finding its place in India, Sharon had already built a strong identity with her albums, live shows and international performances. But her journey took another significant turn when she met theatre veteran Alyque Padamsee, who introduced her to the world of theatre and helped her discover a different side of performance.

Looking back at her pop music journey, Sharon recalled the scale of the life she was living before theatre became a major part of her career. “No independent albums, world tours, Royal Albert Hall, Madison Square Garden, you know, all sorts of exciting things. I had my band, I had my singers, I had my dancers and then I met my husband, Alyque Padamsee,” she said. Sharon explained that Alyque came from an entirely different creative world. “Now Alyque was from theatre, he had no idea about pop singing and all. So he's the one who introduced me into the theatre and I am very grateful because Alyque taught me poise, stature, personality and projection.” For an established performer like Sharon, theatre became an opportunity to sharpen qualities that were different from those required for pop concerts and music performances.

Her introduction to theatre soon resulted in some of the most memorable stage experiences of her career. Among them was Evita, the acclaimed musical in which Sharon took on the titular role under Alyque Padamsee’s direction. Speaking about the theatre scene at the time, she remembered it as an exhilarating period filled with an almost unbelievable pace of work. “It was fabulous. Then we did Evita. I've done something like 800 shows of Evita. We were doing three shows a day. Plays. So it was a crazy time,” Sharon recalled. The sheer number of performances meant that theatre became much more than another professional assignment — it became a demanding way of life.

Sharon’s recollections of that period are filled with the kind of travel stories that sound almost unbelievable today. With performances and commitments taking her from one city to another, there was little room for a predictable routine. “I would perform every day. I would get onto a plane and I'm flying somewhere. I have landed up at the airport with the wrong tickets because at the time we didn't have online,” she said. She went on to share one particularly memorable incident: “I landed at the airport, hoping to catch a flight to Bangalore, and this guy is looking at the flight. He says, ‘Madam, ticket is Hyderabad, and the flight is tomorrow.’ It was like it was just these crazy things. Crazy things happening.” The anecdote captures the sheer pace of her life during those years, when live performance, travel and theatre schedules left little time for anything resembling a conventional routine.

Sharon’s theatrical journey came after she had already established herself as a distinctive voice in Indian pop and playback music. Her husky voice and charismatic stage presence helped her stand out during the early years of independent Hindi pop, with albums such as Feeling Good and Shabash Sharon becoming associated with her musical identity. She also made her mark in Bollywood, including her popular playback number “Mere Jaisi Haseena” from Armaan. Her career eventually took her beyond India as well, with international performances and appearances alongside global names, including Celine Dion, further establishing her as a performer capable of commanding large stages.

Alyque Padamsee, meanwhile, was himself a towering figure in Indian theatre and advertising. Known for his work as an actor, producer and director, he also played Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 film Gandhi and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000. His influence on Sharon’s theatrical career therefore came from someone deeply rooted in the performing arts. Sharon’s personal and professional journey with Alyque added another chapter to an already unconventional career, eventually leading her from the world of pop albums, bands and international concerts into the demanding discipline of theatre.

For Sharon, the transition was not about leaving music behind but about discovering what else she could do as a performer. Theatre gave her a new understanding of presence, discipline and projection, while her pop career had already taught her how to connect with large audiences. Her journey from independent albums and world tours to hundreds of Evita performances remains a reflection of an artist who was never content to remain within one medium. And as Sharon herself put it, the person who helped open that new door was Alyque Padamsee, whose lessons stayed with her long after the curtain came down: “I am very grateful because Alyque taught me poise, stature, personality and projection.”