Ganaga : Poornima

Remember the child prodigy who sang the hit 'Hai Na Bolo Bolo' when she was just nine. Poornima is the oldest singer in terms of experience in the industry (who among today's singers can boast of having worked with Naushad, Madan Mohan, C. Ramchandra, Anil Biswas, S. D. Burman and Shankar Jaikishan).

The first break happened accidentally when Chandrakant Bhosle, a family friend and an assistant to Shankar - Jaikishan recommended her name to Shankar. Inspite of the prevailing custom of women playback singers singing for children, Shankar took upon him the challenge of taking an unknown child to sing 'Hai Na Bolo Bolo' for the film Andaz. Poornima recorded her first song on the 11th of November 1969 with the legend Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur. Rafi was impressed by her singing and presented her hundred rupees after the recording.

In the 1990's, Tips, the Music Company approached her with an offer. Wanting to make a clean departure from the child prodigy image, they suggested a change of name and image. Sushma was game and took the name Poornima, according to her star. Her song 'Barsaat Mein Jab Aayega Saawan Ka Maheena' from Maa was a hit. Few things changed till David Dhawan's Bol Radha Bol. 'Tu Tu Tu Tu Tara' was nothing short of an anthem and the remaining songs, which were a success also, gave Poornima the opportunity to savour success and adulation that had eluded for long.