Khalasi wins the Cannes Lions Bronze

Khalasi, last year’s Coke Studio hit by Gujarati folk singer Aditya Gadhvi and Achint Thakkar, has won a bronze at the 71st Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity for diversity and inclusion in the music category. Creative agency VML picked up the award for Coke’s ‘Sing to Remember’ Campaign. It was part of Coke Studio’s attempt at “using the power of music to awaken forgotten languages”. In this case it was Gujarati, a language that’s not forgotten in India but one that’s not in focus in the mainstream music space.

Written by lyricist Saumya Joshi, the track took social media by storm last year, becoming a favourite in the Navratri season and winning appreciation from even PM Modi. The Gujarati pop track, which tells the story of a sailor, sounds folksy though it isn’t traditional folk.

Gadhvi grew up in Gujarat and was the winner of a local talent hunt show before he found success with Khalasi. Thakkar, a Mumbai-based composer, had created the tunes for Rocket Boys and Monica, O My Darling, before Khalasi. The song was supervised and curated by composer Ankur Tewari.