When we meet her at her sprawling Versova home on a hot Friday morning, Anushka Manchanda still looks like the fresh-faced 18-year-old we saw on our TV screens in 2002, as she beat thousands of girls to become part of India's first girl band, Viva. Sixteen years later, she is making another breakthrough — a metamorphosis of sorts, becoming the kind of artiste she really wants to be. With her new single, Don't be Afraid, which releases this week, she is born again as Nuka, an alias she says, that will see her not only as a singer, but also as a producer and visual artiste. "I have written, performed and produced this song, even edited the video — it's all me. I didn't want to work with anyone on this, as it had to be my baby."

As we watch the video, which also features her father Deepak, an ex-Merchant Navy officer, who is watching it with us, we find ourselves engrossed. Shot in Alibaug, it is Manchanda'a collaboration with Navzar Eranee of Walkabout Films, who has co-conceptualised and directed the video. It has Anushka singing — "Everybody has a weakness that they're working hard to hide; What you see up on the surface isn't always what's inside”. The video seems now to be a metaphor for her own rebirth as the artiste Nuka. "It's interesting you say that. For me, nature is a big part of my life. The video is about how we go back to nature," says the 34-year-old.