The last few weeks have seen the Indian independent music scene make a strong presence in Bollywood. Those who struck gold tell us how it happened
Kabeer Kathpalia aka OAFF is behind the soundtrack of this month’s release Gehraiyaan, starring Deepika Padukone. He created the song Doobey, he says, as if he was doing it for himself. Pic/Ishaan Nair
For anyone who has been active on Instagram recently, the last few weeks have been owned by the songs of this month’s Amazon Prime release, Gehraiyaan. The title track and Doobey have made it to every second Reel. Interestingly, not Bollywood daddies, but an indie Mumbai-based composer-producer is behind it. “I got a message on Instagram from Shakun Batra [Gehraiyaan director],” recalls Kabeer Kathpalia aka OAFF. Batra said he had heard and liked his and partner Savera’s work.
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A still from Gehraiyaan
This pair isn’t alone. Singer-songwriter Maalavika Manoj aka Mali, who divides her time between Chennai and Mumbai, has sung Maange Manzooriyan, a track in the upcoming Bhumi Pednekar and Rajjkumar Rao-starrer Badhaai Do. Manoj landed the opportunity through music director Khamosh Shah with whom she had collaborated on an advertisement. “He called me during the lockdown saying that he was working on a film for which he wanted to pitch my voice,” she recalls. “For them to take a chance on someone new is actually quite refreshing,” she thinks. Manoj, who writes the lyrics to her songs, says it was novel to just turn up and sing.
Parekh & Singh. Pic/Parizad D
Delhi-based singer-songwriter Kamakshi Khanna was on the vocals for Chhan Chhan Chhan from Kaun Banegi Shikarwati, Zee5’s latest series. Khanna has been part of the song Tere Jaisa from Kota Factory Season 2, but for Kolkata-based pop duo Parekh & Singh, it was their first brush with Bollywood when they came on board as composer-producer for the song. “Our entry point was through social media,” says Nischay Parekh. “We have been making music for a while and Ananya Banerjee [the lyricist] was a fan.”
Maalavika Manoj
While it seems that social media is the new place for musicians to get noticed, Manoj thinks the scene is crowded, cutting down your chances. “You have to know how to do things differently, tag the right people and be consistent if you wish to earn the attention of producers over time. Luck also plays a part.”
Kamakshi Khanna. Pic/Nishant Singhani
Parekh agrees that the bubbles in which Bollywood and indie music once existed have popped, and a healthy osmosis is underway. “We have been making the music we want to make, and Bollywood is now approaching us from a perspective that says that they like what we do artistically, instead of trying to change what we do.”
With Chhan Chhan Chhan, Parekh & Singh got to experiment since the show is set in Rajasthan. This required that they explore Indian instrumentation, something they say they wouldn’t do for the Parekh & Singh sound. “In independent music, we are usually asking ourselves all the questions and we don’t have genre limits to expand our horizon. So, it is nice to get somebody else into the picture to challenge our creative process.” The big learning, he says, has been that, it’s important to edit your work. Khanna agrees. “There is no such thing as the final version that we can control. What actually ends up playing on screen is what’s final, and this has meant that we learn how to detach themselves from their work.”
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