Sarita Vaz – Always do Something That You Love The Most

Sarita belongs to a musical family and her father was a well-known musician in Goa. All her family members are connected with the music fraternity somehow or the other and since this is Sarita’s story, we will speak more about her journey in this chapter which is very interesting and inspiring. It is the story of an artist who did not give up her love and passion for music despite the odds. Sarita started her musical journey when she was in school and now she is famous across the world. She sang in Monica My Darling, a Netflix film that brought her fame. I met Sarita to find out more about her musical journey and here are the excerpts from the interview.

“I belong to a musical family where my father was a musician, and my brothers and sister are also connected with music: some sing and others play musical instruments.  Overall, it’s a musical family. I started singing during my school days. “I have always won prizes in school and college singing competitions. In the year 1994, I joined Chris Perry, a legend in Goa’s music industry. He was the first person to give me a platform to prove myself. He came to Mumbai to record my first album.”

Chris Perry re-recorded many songs originally sung by Lorna with Sarita. “He also gave me the opportunity to sing all his old songs, like Bebdo, Pisso, and Red Rose originally sung by Lorna and we did covers of them but they weren’t released due to his untimely demise. We did many shows together.”

“I was very young when Mr  Perry came across and identified the talent in me.  He used to say to me ‘Sarita you are so talented, why didn’t we meet before?’ I would have continued to sing for him if he was still alive.  He was one of the most talented musicians I have ever come across. After Chris Perry, my musical journey almost came to a halt as I got married and went to Mumbai, had children and became busy with family life.”

Sarita’s love for music did not end there though and she started teaching music to children. “I got a job in a school where I teach music to students and I am still doing this. But whenever I came to Goa people used to invite me to sing at functions and parties which were the only times I actually sang. But one day everything changed and singing came back into my life once again. It was during the lockdown time when I came across a YouTube video of Mr Charles Sequria Vaz, and he was performing a famous song by Chris Perry called ‘Tuzo Mog’ (Your Love) and I said to myself ‘Oh my God! It is My Cris Perry’s Song’ she said adding that she used always address her mentor as ‘My Chris Perry’. “I was on the train on my way to the school and that was it, I did a little research on Google and got in touch with Mr Charles and my new journey into the musical arena started.”

The day after Sarita got in touch with Mr Charles, the lockdown started and things remained stagnant for some time. “But soon the opportunity came, and I was made to sing famous compositions of Chris Perry “Bebdo” sung by Lorna and “Me Amor” sung by Usha Uthup. The song went viral with nearly a million views and I thought that it was my comeback into the world of music.”

It was in 2000 when Sarita’s journey into the world of music began, Since 2000 she continues to sing with Mr Charles mostly covers of Chris Perry and Lorna. “It was through this that I got my first opportunity to sing in a movie. I did my first film song in 2021 which was titled “Loop Lapeta.” The film opens with my song which is in Konkani.”

The second and biggest opportunity came to Sarita in March 2022 when she was signed by the makers of the blockbuster film on Netflix “Monica My Darling.” “I liked the song the moment I heard its tune and agreed to go ahead with it. This song in the film Monica My Darling gave me the biggest recognition and limelight ever. The film became a superhit and so did my song which went to millions of views on various media platforms.”

When I asked Sarita about her future plans, she said that there are a few offers she received following the song from Monica My Darling. “Also I and Charles have many plans in the pipeline that will be revealed soon. The singing journey will now continue without a break. I give all the credit for my reincarnation into the musical arena to Mr Charles Vaz, who gave me this second chance. I owe my gratitude first to Chris Perry and now to Mr Charles Vaz, without whom I would have had no future in singing. If it was not for Charles, I would have not seen the light of fame.”

Sarita currently lives in Mumbai, but she wants to come back to her motherland Goa. “I want to come back to Goa but I don’t know when that will happen, maybe when I retire,” she said with a smile on her face. “My family in Goa wants me to come back for good but now my decision also depends on my children- if they don’t want to come to Goa then for me also it may not be possible.”

When I asked Sarita if she wants to give any message to the budding talents in Goa, she said that one should follow their dreams. “You should always do something that you love. When you do something that you love, you are completely engrossed in it and that is the key to success. I love music so much that I forget everything else because I am doing what I love most. I tell my children the same thing, do what you love.”