A sip of Indi-pop

One of the groups responsible for this plethora of Indi-pop music is Indus Creed (originally called Rock Machine). They were the first group to break through to the multi-lakh rupee record deals, and the first to successfully exploit the music video formula. After that, the whole India-pop phenomena burst on the market with even Hindi film music going pop at the slightest opportunity.

But what’s it that has made Indian pop so popularly? Madhureema Joshi, a final year engineering student, says people want to become modern and adopt western beats and music, but in our country they don’t always understand English lyrics, so English beats and Hindi words are a perfect blend. Television has also played an important role in the popularity of Indi-pop. Music channels have reached even villages and more people are exposed to the phenomenon. In any case many youngsters listen to English pop because they think, doing so makes them cool, she says.

Giving specific reasons for liking Indi-pop, Parag Joshi, a science student, says, “It is similar to English music so you can tap your feet and yet the language is easy to follow”.

Parag says that he does not enjoy remixes of songs by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar or even Mohammed Rafi, “The remixes of the latest movie songs are also a big flop.” His favourite singer is Daler Mehendi. Joshi adds that this kind of music is not only good `time-pass’ but definitely entertaining. Though the music was not exactly what you can listen to all the time, it makes a great change, he says.

Sharing his views is Sumita Sinha, a final year student. Though she enjoys the original songs of Asha Bhosale, she also enjoys the Asha Once More remixes.

“It is not that I prefer remixes but once in a while the music composed by them are really good,” she says.

The reasons why Smita Parikh, a final year Arts student, likes Indi-pop are not specific. However, one clue is in her favourite group, Junoon, which has “just the right combination of music”.

There are many artistes these days who take western music and then mix it with Indian lyrics, says Binoy D’costa, a final year textile engineering student. People prefer the more catchy western music and there are no language problems in the case of Indi-pop, although abroad, it’s the other way around, because they want more traditional Indian music. Right now bhangra is really big all over the world, including India for its earthy beat. Pop really boomed up after Alisha’s Made in India album, which even outsold film products around four years ago.

Somnath Kandhare of Sound of Music on M G Road says, “Indi-pop, in the form of Asha Bhosale, Silk Route, Falguni Pathak, Euphoria, has become popular partly because of the publicity it gets. Every channel plays the latest music video regularly. People want to see the video first and then buy the CD or cassette. They are more attracted to the video than the song”.

Another music shop owner says that the range and quality of pop music has increased. Fifty per cent of the songs are nice and catchy. Indi-pop has become a trend nowadays. What the youngsters want is good beats that can be played in cars and at parties. According to him, the pioneer of pop songs in India was Baba Sehgal.

A popular guitarist says that the last two years has seen a tremendous rise in Indi-pop, “If you don’t have a good voice it’s OK, but to have a good video is a major thing and if it clicks, you make it to the top”.

It’s perhaps very wrong to typecast Indi-pop since each region of India has a different kind of Indi-pop. But one thing is for certain, unlike other passing fancies, Indi-pop is here to stay and Balle Balle for that!