She had already been on the block before 'Junoon', the NDTVimagine show, made her a household name, a show that concluded with her being crowned the winner. "I had already sung for the movies Halla Bol, Karam and Salaam-e-Ishq and the 'Ek Onkar' chant I rendered for Rang De Basanti came to be a popular ringtone/caller tune," says Delhi girl Harshdeep, in town to sing at the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Awards function. 

"I have been versatile and open to singing of all genres. But 'Junoon' made me discover the depth of Sufi style and my own capacity to explore it," says the singer whose first stint with showbiz was anchoring musical talent shows for children on ETV Urdu. 

Winning the title of the show, in which she was pitted against the likes of the seasoned Malini Awasthi representing popular folk, ensured her hands are full. "There is a lot of work to do if you are career-oriented," she says, wondering why anyone should take a step as drastic as another TV musical contest participant Poonam Jatau of Lucknow had allegedly taken recently. "TV gives you an opportune platform. The show producers are neither responsible nor answerable for everything you do," said Harshdeep, giving an insight into what's been keeping her busy after she won. 

Besides shows in Canada and UK where Sufi and Punjabi songs are a rage, "I have recorded a song for Kisaan, a Sohail Khan film and another for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Chenab Gandhi. The writer/director has composed that song," she says, defining the genre as not a musical format but the spiruitual essence of its poetry. 

"I consider even the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi song 'Tujh mein Rab dikhta hai' a Sufi number because it's about love and about God," said the singer who chose to sing numbers including 'Bandiya ho' and 'Allahu' for the awards function. 

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